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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26301724">A War Well-Managed</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cerdic519/pseuds/Cerdic519'>Cerdic519</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>The British Revolution [7]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Captain America - All Media Types, Winter Soldier (Comics)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>17th Century, Army, Battle, England (Country), English Civil War, Escape, F/M, Friendship, Gay Sex, Gloucestershire, Inheritance, Jealousy, London, Love, M/M, Minor Character Death, Nobility, Oxfordshire, Parliament (UK), Pining, Politics, Religion, Royalty, Scheming, Secrets, Servants, Sieges, Stucky - Freeform, Teasing, Thirty Years War, War Crimes</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-09-05</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-09-11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 09:28:58</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>22,025</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26301724</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cerdic519/pseuds/Cerdic519</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>November 1643 to December 1644.<br/>Even for a soldier like James Buchanan Barnes, the phrase uttered by one of his fellow fighters drawing comparisons with the nearly three decades of blood and destruction over in Germany is terrifying - 'a war well-managed can be made to last many a year'. Yet with the two sides so evenly matched victory seems far away for either, so they each try to bring in outside help. With rather different results.....</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>James "Bucky" Barnes/Steve Rogers, minor Thor/OMC</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>The British Revolution [7]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1809640</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>6</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Contents</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">
      <li>For <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/tafizgurl/gifts">tafizgurl</a>, <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ilovesreading1205/gifts">Ilovesreading1205</a>.</li>



    </ul><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Contents page.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p><span class="u">A.D. 1643 (continued)</span><br/>
<i>85. Morning Glory</i><br/>
<i>86. Endings</i> </p><p><span class="u">A.D. 1644</span><br/>
<i>87. The Scottish Candidate</i><br/>
<i>88. Floods And Falsehoods</i><br/>
<i>89. Pincers</i><br/>
<i>90. Disobeying Orders</i><br/>
<i>91. The Talk</i><br/>
<i>92. Messes And Marston Moor</i><br/>
<i>93. Gone West</i><br/>
<i>94. Latin Lessons</i><br/>
<i>95. Two Hundred Couple And Ninety-Nine</i><br/>
<i>96. Quid Pro Quo</i></p>
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p>MDCXLIII-MDCXLIV</p>
</div>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Morning Glory</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>There is a gift that is not a gift. The Continental situation changes again, but still not to the king''s advantage. Stalwarton receives a visit from someone thought to have been Abroad, the London Trained Bands head home, and after a wake-up call that will leave Stephen hobbling all day he is promised (or possibly threatened) by his lover with another Christmas that he will remember - if he survives it!</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <b>November 1643</b>
  <br/>
  <b>Stalwarton, Oxfordshire, ENGLAND</b>
</p><p>Stephen sighed deeply, and not solely because he was exhausted after another very thorough wake-up call from his lover. Who was now standing naked at their window for all the world to see, damn him!  Stephen would have objected but he was quite enjoying the view so he had not gotten around to it just yet. Hopefully there was no-one walking across the front of the house just now.</p><p>“You”, the nobleman muttered, “are terrible!”</p><p>“I thought I was rather good, fucking you awake and then going to fetch your latest letter”, Jamie smirked. He had whipped a still semi-conscious Stephen to an impressively fast erection and then fucked himself on his lover's cock while the nobleman had writhed beneath him, making noises that an uncharitable observer might have described as girly shrieks. </p><p>Mainly because they had been girly shrieks.</p><p>Stephen yawned and wondered if there was a jar of that wonderful healing unguent left in his bedside cabinet. Jamie rarely worked him up this way, but when he did the result was always a lot of chafing in certain areas for much of the ensuing day. At least they no longer had Luke around to roll his eyes at his father's wrecked state, although there were those stewards who were perilously close to smirking their way out of employment.</p><p>“You might want to read it soon”, Jamie said, bringing his perfect arse back to their bed and positioning himself alongside a lover who shuddered in anticipation (and terror). “There is bad news from Hampshire.”</p><p>Stephen frowned (even that hurt, damnation!). </p><p>“Hopton has been trying to get into Sussex and at our ironworks again?” he asked sleepily.</p><p>“Worse”, Jamie said, smirking far too much for any true gentlemen or even a soldier brave for that matter. “The Trained Bands have mutinied and thrown up the siege of Basing, so Waller has no men to stop his old friend.”</p><p>“I always thought that such places were more trouble than they were worth”, Stephen said, “but for once I might be proved wrong. He knew of Basing, a fortified great house astride the main road between London and Exeter whose owner¹ was a fervent Royalist but one who, like so many, preferred to fortify his own place rather than send help for his master to use elsewhere. It had indeed hindered trade into London at the start of the war, but with the king now in control of most of the West Country that was no longer really an issue.</p><p>“If the king had any sense he would pull Hopton into his own army and risk a dash at London”, Jamie said. “The odds would still be against him – the Bands would rally to defend their own homes and the city's defences are formidable – but it is his best chance especially as next year will see my countrymen cross the Tweed. After that it will only be a matter of time before he is overwhelmed.”</p><p>“If the king had any sense we would not have had this war in the first place!” Stephen snorted.</p><p>“True”, Jamie grinned. “So let me get back to work and see if I can further shred your senses!”</p><p>Stephen groaned, but let his lover have at it. Like he had any choice!</p>
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p>MDCXLIII</p>
</div><p>
  <b>November 1643</b>
  <br/>
  <b>Stalwarton, Oxfordshire, ENGLAND</b>
</p><p>That autumn was to prove a season for unexpected visitors to the Hall, the first of which was Stephen's nephew Theodric. Aidan's eldest son was thirteen and physically very like his father, as well as being apologetic at his arrival not having been forewarned.</p><p>“The king has heard rumours of the Scots mustering”, the boy said, “and being the king he thought that the best way to secure the loyalty of the Northumberland barons was to demand money from each and every one of them! My father did not really wish to oblige but given that he is ostensibly the earl of this place, he thought it best to send me with a cash gift for the royal coffers. He did write to you at the same time but I suppose that the letter did not reach you.”</p><p>“You risked the roads in these dangerous times?” Stephen asked, surprised. The boy shook his head.</p><p>“Only from Bristol”, he said. “Father owns a share in a company that runs ships from there and some other western ports over to Ireland; we rode to Carlisle and were lucky enough to catch a ship there. I had to go via Dublin of course but it was still quicker than coming by road, and with what we were carrying a lot safer. We had some trouble at Bristol where some soldiers wanted some of the money 'as an administration fee' but I pointed out to them that Father had written of the full amount to the king so he would know if they tried anything.”</p><p>“Adey is sharp like that”, Stephen smiled. “Welcome, nephew.”</p>
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p>MDCXLIII</p>
</div><p>
  <b>November 1643</b>
  <br/>
  <b>Stalwarton, Oxfordshire, ENGLAND</b>
</p><p>Even though he would be riding home without the money and had a sizeable guard from his father, Stephen was still grateful that Jamie decided to accompany Theodric back home when he left, so he could take the opportunity to see how things were in the North. His lover promised to be back well in time for Christmas 'so I can give you a thorough present!'. And that was not the reason why Stephen had shivered on the soldier's departure.</p><p>It had been cold, damnation!</p>
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p>MDCXLIII</p>
</div><p>
  <b>November 1643</b>
  <br/>
  <b>Stalwarton, Oxfordshire, ENGLAND</b>
</p><p>The last day of the month brought news from the Continent. </p><p>“It seems a lot quieter over there in recent years, sir”, Edward said as they sat down to breakfast that morning. “Has your letter changed things, sir?”</p><p>Stephen was surprised.</p><p>“How did you know it was news from the Continent, Edward?” he asked.</p><p>“Mr. Buchanan's letters from Abroad have a darker red seal than the ones in this country”, the boy said. “Also, the paper is different.”</p><p>The nobleman was impressed.</p><p>“Yes”, he said. “The French have suffered a major defeat at a place called Tuttlingen in Baden, south-western Germany. It looks like the king will get no help from his wife's French relatives, little prospect though there was of that anyway.”</p><p>“Why would the Spanish not assist him instead, sir?” Edward asked.</p><p>“They have more than enough troubles on their hands with the Portuguese and Catalonians both fighting for independence”, Stephen said. “Worse, on opposite sides of their peninsula so they are stretched what with fighting the French and supporting their Hapsburg cousins. If it were not for the loss of face I am sure that they would willingly wash their hands of at least the northern Netherlands; this war has surely cost them more than any benefits in trade from such a far-off area.”</p><p>“And much of our own trade goes through those the Netherlands”, Edward said. “Peace would benefit us as well.”</p><p>“We have to secure peace at home for that”, Stephen pointed out. “That is the fear in parliament; if the Continent sorts itself out while the fighting here is still going on, then one or more of the major powers over there will try to interfere. We know that both the French and Spanish are covertly supporting the Confederate Irish rebels, although they are fools to accept such aid it tarnishes Catholicism with the foreign label and will only lead to disaster in the end.”</p><p>“Will it?” the boy asked dubiously.</p><p>“They have only been successful thus far because the English forces against them have been divided”, Stephen said, “and the king taking advantage of this Cessation to withdraw still more troops has helped strengthen their position. But they have mostly proven unable to take the stronger places held by us, and whoever wins this war will be able to throw all their strength against them afterwards. As Jamie said about the cultural issue, it will likely end bloodily.”</p><p>“I did think to become a soldier myself one time, like Mr. Buchanan”, the boy said, “but Thunor told me that I would not.”</p><p>Stephen managed to hold back a smile. Just.</p>
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p>MDCXLIII</p>
</div><p>
  <b>December 1643</b>
  <br/>
  <b>Stalwarton, Oxfordshire, ENGLAND</b>
</p><p>The second visitor to the Hall was someone Stephen had never met before, and indeed had not even known was back in the country. His cousin Vale, his Uncle Edwin's youngest son.</p><p>“I made a very good living abroad”, the young man smiled, “as like Vith I had trained to be a lawyer and ended up working at the Dutch end of our trading links with the Continent. You might not think it sir, but war throws up a great demand for lawyers as even the great and the good like everything to be 'just so' when they put men's lives on the line.”</p><p>The young fellow was Stephen knew twenty-eight years of age, and was strikingly similar to his brother Thor's lover Brennus who had called by the other day to borrow his and Jamie's Special Boxes. Poor Thor! </p><p>“Why did you return to England?” Stephen asked.</p><p>“Vith fell in love with a Flemish merchant's daughter, and decided to set up home there”, Vale explained. “He and I agreed to swap places; he has moved to Antwerp while I settled in London.”</p><p>“Is there still much trade with this war going on?” Stephen wondered.</p><p>“Almost as much as before”, the young lawyer said. “The main problem is not so much the fighting – both sides know that no trade means no money to pay for their armies – but the likes of the Dunkirk pirates who, as everyone knows, the king has a secret deal with. That was why I came to Oxford; I bear a letter from Frederick Henry about that expressing his grave displeasure.”</p><p>“That will put the king in a difficult position, then”, Stephen said. “He relies on those pirates to have anything that could remotely threaten our control of the Navy, but he knows that his Dutch in-law is one of his few friends in the Netherlands. Or on the whole Continent, for that matter. Are the rumours about them supplying weapons to the Scots true, do you know?”</p><p>“Oh yes”, Vale said firmly. “As you say, Frederick Henry apart the Dutch see the conflict in these islands very much as a religious struggle, and the king's dalliances with the Confederate Irish only serve to strengthen that belief. Lord Argyll purchased many weapons over the late summer and early autumn, and a number of Scottish warships came into Antwerp to escort the transports safely to Edinburgh. The king will soon feel the sharp edge of those weapons, I am afraid.”</p><p>“Yet still he persists with his Irish links”, Stephen sighed. “You are most welcome, cousin.”</p>
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p>MDCXLIII</p>
</div><p>
  <i>Notes:</i>
  <br/>
  <i>1) John Paulet, Marquess of Winchester (b. 1598). His late father had almost bankrupted the estate through high living and entertainments; the great house had gone from reputedly rivalling Hampton Court to near ruin. Unfortunately for John he got things back into order just in time for the civil wars, when his house's strategic position astride the major road between London and the West Country made holding it important. John's own line died out but his distant cousin Nigel Paulet (b. 1941) is as of 2021 the current marquess.</i>
</p>
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p>MDCXLIII</p>
</div>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Endings</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>It may have been long expected but it is still a disaster for parliament when they lose John Pym, although they do manage to secure a small victory at Alton, stop the king's men from getting into Sussex, and also uncover yet another Royalist plot in London. Meanwhile back at the Hall Stephen and Jamie have two new 'tenants'.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <b>December 1643</b>
  <br/>
  <b>Stalwarton, Oxfordshire, ENGLAND</b>
</p><p>Vale Bradstock stayed only one night at the Hall before riding back to Oxford where his men were waiting to escort him down to London. The following days were quiet, although Stephen grew increasingly anxious as the skies darkened ominously and heavy snow threatened. It soon became a reality, which meant blocked roads and a delayed return of his lover. Damnation!</p><p>But not a delay in bad news reaching him from London. His cousin had written to inform him of his safe arrival, and also that parliament had lost its leader.</p><p>“Mr. Pym was ill, you did say?” Edward said when he was told. </p><p>Stephen nodded.</p><p>“He has been worn down all year”, he said, “not helped by the loss of Hampden who was one of the few other moderates. Both men sought some sort of accommodation with the king, although they believed that that could not be effected until he had been thoroughly beaten in the field.”</p><p>The boy looked at him shrewdly.</p><p>“You and Mr. Buchanan do not believe that”, he said.</p><p>“We believe that this king can never be trusted”, Stephen sighed. “How can one strike any deal with someone who believes in Divine Right telling him that he need never keep to his word? Even his father, for all his manifold failings, stuck to deals once he had made them which was why he got as far as he did. I do not see how we can trust this king, yet what else is there? His sons are being raised in his image unless one looks for a regency under young Henry Gloucester, while his sister's Palatine sons are either grasping like Charles Louis or closely tied to our king like Rupert and Maurice. What else does that leave except some sort of republic?”</p><p>“The king thinks that the Good Lord will provide a solution”, the boy said sagely. “We had all better hope that He does, one way or another.”</p>
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p>MDCXLIII</p>
</div><p>
  <b>December 1643</b>
  <br/>
  <b>Stalwarton, Oxfordshire, ENGLAND</b>
</p><p>By the following week there was still no news of his lover, and Stephen was getting worried. Even given the state of the roads and the weather, Jamie should have made it to Northumberland and back by now. He could not still be looking round fortified places surely?</p><p>Another heavy snowfall overnight had further dampened the nobleman's spirits, especially as he had to go round the estate and sort out several snow-related problems. Thankfully young Edward was determined to do his part as a member of the family and insisted on taking some of the jobs for himself, although Stephen sent Fraser along with him (if only because the behemoth was less likely to disappear under a snowdrift!). They were all cold when they returned to the Hall, and Stephen was still shivering when he went to bed despite the warming-pan that he had ordered. He rarely used them, preferring his own human heater who was now miles away.</p><p>Except that he was not. Stephen was wakened after barely half an hour's sleep by a wonderfully familiar figure being ushered into the Hall – ye Gods, the man was wearing his kilt in these conditions! – and the nobleman ushered him upstairs to their room. Jamie was so out of it that he almost fell over as Stephen got him out of his sodden clothes and dried him down before levering him into bed. Then he slipped in behind him, uttering silent prayers that he had his man back.</p>
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p>MDCXLIII</p>
</div><p>
  <b>December 1643</b>
  <br/>
  <b>Stalwarton, Oxfordshire, ENGLAND</b>
</p><p>Apparently coming home at midnight and soaked to the skin still meant that a certain soldier needed but one night to recover, as he roused Stephen the following morning with a fucking the like of which the nobleman would long remember. Long and hard remember; Jamie had marched him around the room while impaled on the Buckmaster before throwing his lover face-down into the bed and taking his pleasure once more. If ever one man was going to get another man pregnant, Stephen thought with what little remained of his mind, it was going to be now and him!</p><p>It was <i>glorious!</i></p><p>“I am sorry that I was away so long”, Jamie sighed as he thrust away almost absent-mindedly inside his broken lover. “I wanted to see Hull but given the on-off siege that place is subject to, I had to work my way around to Barton on the Lindsey coast and get a ship in from there. Then the first heavy snows blocked all roads south and I was stuck, until Fairfax generously let me take the fast ship that he uses to get letters to London. The snows are not so bad down here but that fall yesterday nearly caught me at Newbury.”</p><p>“Newbury?” Stephen asked, surprised.</p><p>“Aye”, Jamie said. “I had to take the main road because it was still passable; you know how the direct one goes through the Chilterns. The road up from Newbury was not too bad despite the hills, though I was unlucky enough to make Oxford just after they closed the gates at dark so I decided to press on. Working round the place took some time, which was why I was so late back.”</p><p>“You are here, that is the important thing”, Stephen sighed.</p><p>Jamie somehow thrust into him even deeper, and the nobleman groaned in pleasure.</p><p>“And that is the other important thing!” the soldier grinned. “I have a whole lot of sexual frustration to work off, and now I am ready for Round Three!”</p><p>As Stephen found out half a second later, his lover was more than ready!</p>
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p>MDCXLIII</p>
</div><p>
  <b>December 1643</b>
  <br/>
  <b>Stalwarton, Oxfordshire, ENGLAND</b>
</p><p>Later that day when he had finished trying to drive Stephen into an early grave, Jamie helped what was left of his lover downstairs. He even managed to forbear from smirking at the nobleman's dreadful state.</p><p>Well, he thought about not smirking. That counted!</p><p>“I picked up some news in my travels”, the soldier said once Stephen was safely down on his cushions and staring suspiciously at his lover.</p><p>“Go on”, the nobleman said, trying and failing to smother a yawn.</p><p>“Waller has retaken Alton, in east Hampshire”, Jamie said, “which has forced Hopton to quit Petersfield to the south lest he be cut off.”</p><p>“That at least saves the Sussex ironworks for now”, Stephen said. “Have you seen Edward around, by the way?”</p><p>Jamie frowned.</p><p>“He said that he has been invited over to spend Christmas with Baldur and his family”, he said.</p><p>Stephen looked at his lover in surprise.</p><p>“You say that like it is a bad thing”, he said.</p><p>“We both know how young Thunor has decided that she will marry the boy one day, whether he wills it or no”, he said. “it is just that the timing seems... strange.”</p><p>“Why?” Stephen asked, yawning again.</p><p>“Eddie said that Thor and Brennus are coming over later to see us for some reason”, Jamie said. “And that he was sure you and I would have a lot to discuss. I rather think that he knows about us.”</p><p>“He is a sharp boy”, Stephen sighed, “and it was likely that he would find out sooner or later. I wonder what Bren and Thor want.”</p><p>“Knowing Bren, sex”, Jamie grinned.</p><p>Stephen just rolled his eyes at him.</p>
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p>MDCXLIII</p>
</div><p>It annoyed the nobleman even more that his smirking over was swiftly proven right. It turned out that his cousin had been compelled to move out of his and his own lover's house because the roof had given way all along the back, and would have to be completely rebuilt once the snow had eased off. Or when hell froze over, given that the stuff was still coming down! Fortunately Baldur had marshalled his family into clearing out the contents of the cottage and had stored them in his own copious house.</p><p>Stephen and Jamie just had to host Thor and the horniest man in Oxfordshire (beyond Stalwarton)!</p><p>Honestly, Brennus was insatiable! Although he and Thor took on some estate duties during their stay, far too often the behemoth would just look at his lover and gesture skywards, upon which Thor would sigh heavily but do as he was told. And then often fail to emerge for some hours afterwards, his lover usually having to take his meals up to their room. It was a good thing that Stephen never looked that wrecked and that had better damn well not be a smirk on a kilted someone's face!</p><p>“My master said that you might explain what one of these Independents was, Lord Stephen sir”, Brennus said as they all sat in the study one day.</p><p>Said master was currently stark naked and impaled on 'The Brennster' as someone insisted on calling it. This time the behemoth had not been prepared to wait; he had not bothered to undress, just whipping out 'The Brennster' and waiting for his master to impale himself on it.</p><p>“I wonder that you are not freezing, Thor”, Jamie teased.</p><p>“I keep my master warm, inside and out!" Brennus said, wrapping two beefy arms around Stephen's cousin. He was not that much taller than his prey but far more muscular and just generally massive, as well as apparently not feeling the cold just like Jamie. </p><p>Thor moaned pleasurably as he was engulfed. He stared blearily at his hosts.</p><p>“Tell him, Stevie”, he muttered. “It might give me a few minutes to recover!”</p><p>Stephen chuckled but obliged.</p><p>“They are a group of free thinkers who believe that there should be no state religion, or at least a loose definition allowing a span of Protestant beliefs in which each man can let his conscience take him where it will”, he said. “They are becoming stronger in parliament from what I saw last time I was in London, and Cromwell is one of them.”</p><p>“Their leader?” Brennus asked, distractedly thrusting away and making his prey moan even louder.</p><p>“Tell him faster!” Thor urged.</p><p>“They do not believe in leaders”, Stephen said. “The outspoken John Lilburne – Freeborn John – is popular with them but he would not call himself their leader, I am sure. They will become more important this coming year with the Scots entering the war, as Jamie's countrymen think that the Presbyterian system would be better for England.”</p><p>“What system is that, sir?” Brennus asked, thrusting even harder into his lover.</p><p>“Oh my Lord!” Thor gasped.</p><p>“The Presbyterian system shares the similarity that it abhors bishops”, Stephen said, not smiling at all at his cousin's increasing distress, “but it replaces their authority with that of local church elders. Basically the same as the old Anglican Church but decentralized, which was one reason our king tried to change it. With rather unfortunate results.”</p><p>“Whereas my master always gets good results”, Brennus grinned. “In the end!”</p><p>He rose effortlessly to his feet still carrying said master, who yelped in surprise and clung to him even harder. Stephen and Jamie smiled at them both.</p>
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p>MDCXLIII</p>
</div><p>
  <b>December 1643</b>
  <br/>
  <b>Stalwarton, Oxfordshire, ENGLAND</b>
</p><p>“As I thought, Vane and Holles are the new leaders with Pym gone”, Stephen said as they lay together. It was the last day of the year and they were enjoying the twelve days of Christmas almost as much as the estate workers were enjoying their extra coal, something which had proven a most timely gift given the sudden onset of winter weather.</p><p>“You think that they will not work together?” Jamie asked.</p><p>“For now they will”, Stephen said, “especially with the discovery of the king's latest plot to secure London by stealth. Fortunately the governor of Aylesbury¹, John Moseley, played the king by pretending to agree to surrender the town to him and all the time keeping us informed of the developing plot.”</p><p>“The discovery of which will again make moderates in the city back away form the king”, Jamie sighed. “Winning by battle is one thing, winning by treachery quite another in many people's eyes. Well, it has been a busy year, has 1643. I wonder what 1644 will hold?”</p><p>There was a pained moan from outside. Stephen chuckled.</p><p>“For my cousin Thor, much the same as 1643!” he grinned.</p><p>“A long and hard year!” Jamie agreed.</p><p>“Bren really is terrible to him”, Stephen said. “He told me the other day that he gets Aunt Agnes to send him over her writings regularly because when he starts to mention them, Thor will let him do whatever he wants with him if he will only stop talking!”</p><p>“I think that Thor would likely do that anyway!” Jamie said. “Surely even your aunt does not have that many writings, even for her?”</p><p>“Bren has had her send over her lists from her ideas book”, Stephen said, “all the things that she never got round to writing up. He only has to mention a sentence or two and that is enough!”</p><p>The pained moan became a roar, followed by a certain Norse god loudly thanking the Lord for.... something.</p><p>“A religious moment”, Stephen grinned. “Praise be!”</p>
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p>MDCXLIII</p>
</div><p>
  <i>Notes:</i>
  <br/>
  <i>1) A town about one-third of the way between Oxford and London on the northern route through the Chiltern Hills. Its capture by the king would have served much the same point as both Towcester and Newport Pagnell might have done, enabling him to reach across and threaten the complete severing of parliament's land-bridge to the North, although as they had the Navy this was not as important as it otherwise might have been.</i>
</p>
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p>MDCXLIII</p>
</div>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. The Scottish Candidate</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>The new years starts with one of those Difficult Conversations which Stephen had thought to have been behind him with his son safely married. Heavy snow blankets the land and slows down the 'invading' Scots army, but at least there is good news from the Continent where a potential danger is averted. 'Her Majesty She-Generalissima' continues to hinder her husband's cause, and parliament makes a fast move.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <b>January 1644</b>
  <br/>
  <b>Stalwarton, Oxfordshire, ENGLAND</b>
</p><p>“Do you know who my father was, Ste?”</p><p>Stephen blinked. His lover had the strangest sense of timing, along with an annoying tendency to want to discuss things while trying to fuck the nobleman into oblivion (again). </p><p>“What?” he deflected.</p><p>That earned him another hard thrust that made his eyes water.</p><p>“Do you know who my father was?” Jamie repeated. “Or is, if he is still alive?”</p><p>Stephen shuddered within, and given their current situation his lover probably sensed that. This was dangerous ground; there were he knew discussions among some in parliament as to who might replace the king if he proved impossible to reach a deal with, something that Stephen knew was all too likely. A handsome and skilled bastard son of his popular late elder brother might be the ideal candidate, with all the dangers that that would draw on the man currently trying to end him.</p><p>“I do not”, Stephen said at last.</p><p>That was mostly true. He did not know, even if he was ninety-nine point nine nine per cent sure. Jamie looked down on him and frowned; Stephen should have known that he would have seen through such semantics.</p><p>“I know I am Montrose's blood”, the soldier said shrewdly, “and the bastard offspring of a half-sister of his, your terrifying Aunt Agnes's sister Susanna. For all that he dresses like a lord and I like the common soldier that I am, I remember that time we saw him in Dundee and how like me he looked, even though he has class and I have none. But I think every man should know his father as well. You did not have to let Luke know the truth about his origins, yet you chose to.”</p><p>That was because being the bastard offspring of a minor Northern landowner's second son is ever so slightly different from being in line to the throne, Stephen thought dryly. </p><p>“I do know something of your mother”, he said. “She.... I do not like to say this but she had a reputation for wildness. She had two men in her household, James Buchanan and James Barnes, and she..... split her favours between them. My mother said that Aunt Agnes was not sure..... you know.”</p><p>Jamie looked down on him. A heavy silence hung between them.</p><p>“You will tell me when I need to know”, the soldier said confidently. “In the meantime, I had better set to making the first day of this new year a memorable one!”</p><p>And with that he thrust in even deeper. Stephen moaned and let him have at it, glad that a potentially tricky conversation had been curtailed. Even if he might also end up curtailed as a result!</p>
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p>MDCXLIV</p>
</div><p>“I only wish that my half-uncle was on our side in this contention”, Jamie said some time later as he held what was left of the nobleman in his embrace. “But the king has made poor use of a valuable asset, and I can only hope that all is sorted before he becomes involved.”</p><p>“You think that he might be?” Stephen asked, wondering when his distant body parts might start functioning again. At least he was in a better state that Thor, whom Brennus had carried down the stairs on 'The Brennster' to the dining-room, then carried him back up to their room for.... well, at least Aunt Agnes had three other sons. </p><p>“I fear that he might be tempted”, Jamie fretted. “We know that the Scots are crossing the Tweed today, so a huge number of men along with nearly all the military leaders will be out of the country. The temptation to stir up trouble in their absence may prove a strong one.”</p><p>“Lord Argyll might not be up to it, you believe?” Stephen asked.</p><p>“He is sharp”, Jamie conceded, “and highly skilled in politics, but Montrose is the cleverer man on the battlefield from what I have heard of his Continental travels.”</p><p>“I did not know that he fought in the German wars”, Stephen said.</p><p>“He did not as such”, Jamie sighed, “but there is more than one way of 'experiencing the Continent'. Well, what will be will be. Fancy following Bren up and down the stairs?”</p><p>Stephen gave him such a look!</p>
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p>MDCXLIV</p>
</div><p>
  <b>January 1644</b>
  <br/>
  <b>Stalwarton, Oxfordshire, ENGLAND</b>
</p><p>Thankfully they had had three clear days without snow which had enabled Thor's and Bren's place to have its roof repaired (and pretty much replaced). However their house would take some time to dry out so the couple would be staying at the Hall for another week.</p><p>Stephen was sure that there were more terrifying things in this world that the sight of Bren and his lover discussing 'ideas' together, but he could not for the life of him think what they might be!</p><p>Today however there was a distraction with some news from abroad. Although Stephen was not sure whether it was good or bad.</p><p>“I would have thought two Protestant powers going at each other¹ was a bad thing”, he told Jamie.</p><p>“Not for us in England”, the soldier said. “The Swedes are doing well in the interminable German wars again so they have decided to take advantage of Danish weakness by trying to drive them from their Scanian holdings.”</p><p>“Their what?” Stephen asked.</p><p>“Danish wealth comes from their control of the Baltic trade”, Jamie explained, “which means that they need to control both the north and south coasts of that sea. They have Norway in Personal Union and also hold Scania, which is the north coast of the Baltic across from Germany, but Sweden knows that if they can take that then they will break their rivals financially and become the leading power in Scandinavia.”</p><p>“So why is that good for our cause?” Stephen asked.</p><p>“Because as we know, King Christian the Fourth is not only king of Denmark and Norway but also our own king's uncle”, Jamie said. “Remember those rumours about the Orkney Islands last year?”</p><p>“The old Norwegian islands off Scotland”, Stephen said. “Yes, I see it. The king hands them over to his uncle and gets a whole load of ships with which to challenge our Navy.”</p><p>“Except now he is in a war with his neighbours, he cannot spare any”, Jamie grinned. “And I am sure that the English parliament will be helping Queen Christina as much as they can to keep it that way, for all that she is suspected of being a covert Catholic. Fancy some sex to celebrate?”</p><p>Stephen sighed. His lover was so predictable and.... and why was he still sat here when that hot arse was already out of the door?</p>
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p>MDCXLIV</p>
</div><p>
  <b>January 1644</b>
  <br/>
  <b>Stalwarton, Oxfordshire, ENGLAND</b>
</p><p>Stephen just about managed not to smile as he heard his cousin's scream. After nearly a month of having him and Bren in the house it was finally time for them to return home, and some bastard of a behemoth had borrowed two horses from them for the journey.</p><p>Poor Thor, having to ride after a month spent mostly being impaled on The Brennster! That scream had probably been heard down in King's Linton!</p><p>Still not smiling, the nobleman returned to the house.</p><p>“That was good news from Towcester”, he said.</p><p>The indefatigable prince had been forced to withdraw from his latest attempt to cut London off from the north at Towcester, another place that like Newport Paynel had threatened to sever Watling Street and parliament's links with the Midlands. It was nearer to Oxford than Newport, being only about thirty miles from Stalwarton, but still not close enough to get the help that the prince had requested. Or so it had seemed.</p><p>“Hardly unexpected”, Jamie said. “I feel sorry for Prince Rupert; it is hard enough to fight a war without having someone like the queen deliberately sabotaging his efforts.”</p><p>“She is pregnant again”, Stephen said, “so the prince must be hoping that that will curb her interfering for a while. I would wager a hundred pounds² that Rupert has no designs on the crown, but his elder brother is another matter and I know that even the king distrusts him.”</p><p>“He made ill use of him that time in Hull”, Jamie said, “although yes, knowing our monarch I am sure that he was astonished that the young fellow did not do as he expected. But then the Elector's moneys come from parliament, and he is all for the money.”</p><p>“With his background, that is understandable”, Stephen agreed.</p><p>They went in, both still smiling at the pained yelps that could still be heard as someone rode very slowly down the driveway. The very bumpy, very long  driveway.</p>
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p>MDCXLIV</p>
</div><p>
  <b>January 1644</b>
  <br/>
  <b>Stalwarton, Oxfordshire, ENGLAND</b>
</p><p>“It is a good thing that neither of us is deeply religious”, Stephen said as he read the latest news from London. “Parliament has decreed that Thursday is to be the new official day of fasting.”</p><p>Jamie thought about that for a moment.</p><p>“That will be aimed at Royalists in the capital”, he said shrewdly, “who will want to honour the king by sticking to the traditional Friday. But they will know that they will be being watched, so would have to fast for two straight days now.”</p><p>“Cunning”, Stephen said. “If only they could devote such abilities to the fighting then this war might be over by the end of the year. Instead they worry about people's food intake.”</p><p>“As opposed to Bren, who worries about other intakes”, Jamie grinned. “He came over while you were out earlier; he insisted that he and Thor 'rechristen' every one of the rooms now they had their place back again.”</p><p>Stephen winced.</p><p>“They have a fair-sized place”, he said. “Is there anything left of my cousin, did he say?”</p><p>Jamie chuckled.</p><p>“I loaned him the third of our Special Boxes”, he said, “so probably not!”</p>
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p>MDCXLIV</p>
</div><p>
  <i>Notes:</i>
  <br/>
  <i>1) The Torstenson Wars (1643-1645), so-called after one of the Swedish generals. Overlapping the ongoing German wars the Swedes were successful in nearly all their aims, driving the Danes almost out of the modern country and forcing them to abolish their levies on all Baltic trade. Sweden would become a major European power for the second half of the seventeenth century until the rise of Russia.</i>
  <br/>
  <i>2) About £17,000 ($21,000) at 2021 prices.</i>
</p><p>
  <i></i>
</p>
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p>MDCXLIV</p>
</div>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Floods And Falsehoods</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>There is a war crime in Cheshire which draws down some divine disapprobation, and Stephen finds himself with two offers that will be difficult to refuse yet impossible to accept. Young Edward Stark again proves devious if in a good cause, and the king's position in Wales is suddenly less secure thanks to a page turning up.  And the Hall gets an unwelcome visitor – but luckily everyone is prepared.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <b>January 1644</b>
  <br/>
  <b>Stalwarton, Oxfordshire, ENGLAND</b>
</p><p>“You look troubled, sir?”</p><p>Stephen looked up from his letter and smiled at his charge.</p><p>“I am, Edward”, he said. “As you know, the king is calling a rival parliament to Oxford and is determined to make it as large as possible. I doubt that its Commons will be anywhere near the size of ours at Westminster although there will surely be more Lords. He wants every member who supports him there, and living so close as I do I am 'invited'.”</p><p>The boy looked at him shrewdly. </p><p>“I think from that, sir, you mean that you are compelled to attend”, he said. “Did you not have a letter from London the other day as well?”</p><p>Stephen sighed. Even with the few servants that they had here none of whom 'lived in', there were no secrets in a big house.</p><p>“There are problems down in London as well”, he said. “Parliament there is setting up something called the Committee of Both Kingdoms, to manage the war now that the Scots have joined us. I am 'invited' to attend that to, although I can plead distance and young Vane says that he will understand, given how close we are to Oxford.”</p><p>“Vane?” Jamie asked. “Not Holles?”</p><p>“That is the other problem”, Stephen said. “Holles as we know supports Essex but Vane does not. And the bad blood between Essex and Waller is getting perilously close to boiling-point from what Diana tells me; William the Conqueror thinks that he should be in charge whereas Essex will never surrender control to someone so lowly, as he sees it.”</p><p>The boy thought on this for a while, then smiled.</p><p>“Chickenpox!” he said.</p><p>Both men looked at him in surprise.</p><p>“The day the king's parliament opens you could send that I have come down with it”, Edward explained, “and since no-one knows that my Lord Amerike has already had it, then you would likely be spreading it around Oxford if you went there. It is hardly a healthy place as it is and I am sure that I would take a long time to recover. You did say that the king will likely not hold a long parliament.”</p><p>Stephen smiled at the boy.</p><p>“But it would mean you not going out much in case you were seen and it got back to the king”, he pointed out.</p><p>“I do not mind staying in for a while”, Edward said, "especially with this awful weather. And it is all for you, sir.”</p><p>Stephen blushed. And some smirking idiot over there could shut up too!</p>
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p>MDCXLIV</p>
</div><p>
  <b>January 1644</b>
  <br/>
  <b>Stalwarton, Oxfordshire, ENGLAND</b>
</p><p>Stephen thumped his fist onto the desk, making even his lover jump.</p><p>“Ste?” Jamie said. “What is it?”</p><p>“That bastard Byron¹!” the nobleman ground out. “He was up in Cheshire to oversee the arrival of those Irish troops upon which the king is pinning his hopes, and he has slaughtered a load of our men who had taken refuge in a church. Some place called Barthomley near Nantwich; all twenty surrendered on having been offered quarter but twelve were shot anyway.”</p><p>“Which will only lead to our side doing the same when they get the opportunity”, Jamie sighed. “I thought he had gone there immediately after the king ennobled him?”</p><p>“It happened on Christmas Eve but with all the roads closed and this snow, it has only just got out”, Stephen said. “Seriously, have we come to this?”</p><p>“I am rather afraid that we have”, Jamie sighed. “We have seen the Good Lord strike against such impiety before, and this right at his own door. I wonder if Byron will soon feel some divine wrath of his own?”</p>
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p>MDCXLIV</p>
</div><p>
  <b>January 1644</b>
  <br/>
  <b>Stalwarton, Oxfordshire, ENGLAND</b>
</p><p>The answer to that question was in the affirmative, and reached Stalwarton in a second letter the very next day. Stephen read it with a grim satisfaction.</p><p>“Good news?” Jamie asked, as he toyed with his lover's hair. </p><p>The nobleman sighed contentedly.</p><p>“Very good”, he said. “Byron has indeed felt the Lord's wrath and his army is broken. The king's chances of securing Cheshire are gone, for now at least.”</p><p>“What happened?” Jamie asked.</p><p>“He besieged Nantwich which lies on the River Weaver”, Stephen said. “Like here the place is beset with snow so he had to build a bridge of boats so he could invest it on both sides. However Fairfax arrived the same day as a sudden thaw, and the meltwater swept the bridge away cutting Byron's army in two. We were easily able to crush one half while the other fled.”</p><p>“That might even make Black Tom smile”, Jamie grinned. “For all that he is a sound general he is one of the most morose fellows that I have ever met! But he is definitely a soldier's man; I did not find a single one of his men who did not look up to him.”</p><p>“We need more men like that”, Stephen agreed. “Though it helps too when the king has idiots like Byron!”</p>
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p>MDCXLIV</p>
</div><p>
  <b>February 1644</b>
  <br/>
  <b>Stalwarton, Oxfordshire, ENGLAND</b>
</p><p>Stephen looked to where Jamie was pointing.</p><p>“Pembrokeshire?” he asked in surprise. “That rural part they call Little England Beyond Wales?”</p><p>“You are forgetting the Irish element”, Jamie said. “Like with Byron and Cheshire, western areas of Britain have become much more important now that the king seeks to bring over troops from Ireland. Pembrokeshire is the shortest crossing in the south; if they had tried to cut across to the West Country there is the danger that the Navy might have intercepted them.”</p><p>“And, I suppose, if we hold the county then that could be a useful naval base”, Stephen said. </p><p>“Especially Milford Haven with its great natural harbour”, Jamie said. “The king holds the whole West Country except for Plymouth, which is invested so useless as a naval base which means out ships patrolling the Irish Sea have been based hundreds of miles away in Portsmouth. That was why I suggested parliament send Laugharne those two hundred soldiers. In that sparsely populated part of the world they could make a whole load of difference.”</p><p>“Laugharne”, Stephen mused. “I do not know the name.”</p><p>“Rowland Laugharne”, Jamie said. “He is about our age; he was a page to Essex when he fought in the Dutch wars. I never met him on the Continent but he had a far better reputation than his master; that sort of Getting Above Your Station quickly got around as you might imagine. He is a most sound fellow and, I think, a moderate in politics. The king relies on Wales for much of his infantry, which would be more difficult if he had to also guard against a threat from somewhere like Pembrokeshire. It is always dangerous when someone comes up on you from an unexpected angle.”</p><p>Stephen was about to agree when he suddenly felt his lover's hand inside his trousers. It looked like he too was to be come at from an unexpected angle.</p><p>Score!</p>
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p>MDCXLIV</p>
</div><p>
  <b>February 1644</b>
  <br/>
  <b>Stalwarton, Oxfordshire, ENGLAND</b>
</p><p>“Many in parliament are grumbling over how slow the Scots are”, Stephen sighed a week or so later. “They seem to forget that winters are much worse in the north, and the roads much poorer. I remember Staward being cut off for weeks at a time when it was really bad.”</p><p>“I remember making snowmen at Wormit”, Jamie grinned. </p><p>“And I remember Luke having to explain to the vicar when you made one down here that was anatomically correct!” Stephen shot back.</p><p>“I always modelled them on me”, Jamie said immodestly. “As you well know!”</p><p>Stephen shook his head at him. </p><p>“Parliament also forgets just how big my home county is”, he said. “Yes, the Scots may only have crossed one county, but bearing in mind they are going on foot and in heavy snows with a large army, it is actually very impressive.”</p><p>“Again, like me!” Jamie grinned.</p><p>“Then there are these reports of Newcastle getting a large number of new recruits because of the Northerners' traditional hatred of the Scots”, Stephen said, looking reprovingly at his lover. “That will not help matters.”</p><p>“Whereas I always help matters!” Jamie grinned. “Sex?”</p><p>Seriously, the fellow was getting worse – and why was Stephen still sitting there and not following him off for more sex?</p>
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p>MDCXLIV</p>
</div><p>
  <b>February 1644</b>
  <br/>
  <b>Stalwarton, Oxfordshire, ENGLAND</b>
</p><p>It was nearly the end of the month, but unfortunately not the end of the snow as another heavy fall had again cut off the village from its single road connecting it to the outside world. The Royalists were claiming that the 'unseasonable weather' (they did know that this was England, Jamie had quipped) was responsible for the king's first parliament in Oxford being smaller than had hoped, about a hundred members of the Commons and thirty Lords. Who had of course done every single thing that the king had wanted, the lackeys.</p><p>Better news had come from the university city concerning a certain relative, however. Stephen allowed himself a small smile, although considering what a certain lover had done to and with him the previous night, he could not likely manage a larger one!</p><p>“A letter from the Prince of Wales”, Jamie said, smiling as he read it and giving his lover a look that made the nobleman shudder in a way that had nothing to do with the winter chill. “He notes that Prince Rupert has recently had to discipline one of his men for an unauthorized absence.”</p><p>Mr. Anthony Stark had paid an unannounced visit to the Hall, almost certainly to check out the state of health of his supposedly sick nephew. Stephen had refused to admit him and Jamie standing right behind him had had his dagger out as his fellow soldier had looked set to outstay his welcome, little as it was. Fortunately an Edward clad in blankets had appeared on the balcony outside as his uncle was leaving; Stephen had been impressed that he had managed to look quite so sick but apparently the boy had suspected his uncle might try something and had had some face powder and blusher ready.</p><p>Their unwelcome visitor had slouched off back to Oxford and, according to the prince, was not in good odour with his master having slipped away when he should have been on duty. He had claimed that he had been on patrol but in Stephen's subsequent gift of money to the king he had mentioned the visit, and that it had been inadvisable just now. Clearly the king or perhaps even his son had passed it on to their Palatine relative, who would be keeping a sharper eye on one of his men in future.</p><p>And the ultimate upside was that once Edward was safely back in his bed, Jamie had 'celebrated' with Stephen in his study. Sex in front of a hot fire with a hotter soldier – this year was not going so bad after all.</p>
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p>MDCXLIV</p>
</div><p>
  <i>Notes:</i>
  <br/>
  <i>1) John Byron (b. 1599). He died in 1652; upon the Restoration his brother Richard inherited the title and from him are descended both the infamous eighth Baron, the poet George and, as of 2021, Robert Byron (b. 1950) the thirteenth Baron.</i>
</p>
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p>MDCXLIV</p>
</div>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. Pincers</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>By an un-amazing coincidence a new priest to the area simultaneously sees the error of his ways, the point of Jamie's dagger, and the sudden need for a move to pastures new. A Royalist rising in Scotland threatens to undermine that country's support for parliament while Prince Rupert moves to relieve parliament's siege of Newark. And once again the key Sussex iron foundries are coming under threat. The king's forces are closing in.....</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <b>March 1644</b>
  <br/>
  <b>Stalwarton, Oxfordshire, ENGLAND</b>
</p><p>Neither Stephen nor Jamie was deeply religious, which at least made for harmony at home. It also arguably removed another reason for a certain soldier to 'drive home the point of his position', not that he needed one, the dog! They did of course attend church – Stephen being the resident lord of the manor made that obligatory – and had a rota as to which ones they and young Edward attended each Sunday so that those in other parts of the estate did not feel left out. Unfortunately they had not been round them as of late because of Edward's 'illness', but fortunately the rumours coming out of Oxford were that the king would soon adjourn his parliament there. </p><p>“I think that we may have a problem, sir.”</p><p>Stephen was at once on his guard. The seemingly ever-pleasant Edward was not one to bother him without a good reason, so if he thought that something was worth his guardian's attention then it likely was.</p><p>“What is it, Edward?” he asked.</p><p>“The new priest over the river at Charlton, now that Reverend Gray has been 'withdrawn'”, the boy said.</p><p>A polite phraseology there, thought Stephen. The Scottish involvement in the war had led to a renewal of the crackdown on those priests who did not do everything 'just so', a move that was causing no end of trouble as it only took one disgruntled parishioner to have a priest 'withdrawn' as the one at Charlton had been. Fraser and Chatton had not been happy about it as they had liked the old priest.</p><p>“The new fellow is a Neville Dunbury”, Jamie said from his chair. “He is not popular in the parish; his nickname in the village is 'Never Dun-Boring!' Poor Chatton was not impressed at having to sit through one of his sermons last week.”</p><p>The two stewards had taken on the church attendance duties that winter which Jamie had said was a good thing as they likely had many things to atone for, especially as they had borrowed the Special Boxes recently. Stephen sighed at his lover; he was somehow achieving the impossible and getting worse as he got older. But he was also growing more inventive and what with both their birthdays approaching...</p><p>Not the time! So not the time!</p><p>“What did he say, exactly?” Stephen asked, ignoring a knowing smirk from someone who should have known better with a child present.</p><p>“He was going on about the so-called 'Church Papists'”, the boy said. “The likes of the Martins and the Wellses in his village.”</p><p>Stephen was surprised.</p><p>“They are Catholics?” he asked.</p><p>“Some of the very few on the estate”, Jamie said. “Fraser had to have a word with old Reverend Smith at Wolfstown when he started making noises about the Peters family in Byteby, but thankfully he retired not long after. Probably wise; I am sure that he was on Westminster's 'little list' and was given the option of jumping with a pay-off before he was pushed.”</p><p>“Do you have the power to get rid of Reverend Dunbury, sir?” Edward asked.</p><p>“It is an estate church, so yes”, Stephen said, “although I will have to check to see just how he got the post in the first place. He might have an influential patron somewhere that I might be best advised not to annoy.”</p><p>“He is the second cousin to Lord Mendlesham who sits on the Recall Committee”, Jamie said, "something he tells everyone who cannot run away fast enough. Of course only a cynic would suggest that said nobleman used his position to cause a vacancy in the same county that his relative lived, and at just the right time.”</p><p>Stephen looked pointedly at the smug bastard, whose innocent expression did not fool him for a moment.</p><p>“I shall write to Vane pointing this out”, he said. “I might also mention it in my next letter to Cromwell; I doubt that he can do much given his current position but you never know.”</p><p>“I always know”, Jamie said with a smile.</p><p>“Mr. Buchanan is very clever”, Edward agreed, turning to the soldier. “By the way sir, there was a parcel from London for you this morning which I had to take as you were still a-bed. It was very badly wrapped and almost came apart. What do you need such strange-smelling green unguent for, may I ask?”</p><p>Stephen was so glad that the boy was not looking at him just then, as he could fully enjoy his lover's discomfiture. Hah!</p>
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p>MDCXLIV</p>
</div><p>
  <b>March 1644</b>
  <br/>
  <b>Stalwarton, Oxfordshire, ENGLAND</b>
</p><p>It was Stephen who was discomfited about a week later after the Reverend Dunbury had himself been recalled and his predecessor reinstated.</p><p>“It is always gratifying when someone takes your advice and succeeds as a result”, Jamie smiled. “Using just a few of the Navy's ships to assist Laugharne has proven decisive; he has managed to batter his way into Tenby and now holds much of Pembrokeshire. The king will be watching his back in the Principality as a result.”</p><p>Stephen nodded, then winced. His lover had been less than pleased at his leaving him to answer Edward's innocent question about that London package, and the turbulent priest's departure celebrations had been followed with a solid week of molestation at every opportunity. The nobleman was sure that he had no come left in his balls by this point, the insatiable soldier having jerked him off so often that he had yelped (albeit manfully) when putting his kilt on of a morning.</p><p>Yes, the kilt. Trousers.... no. Just no! And Edward had looked at him rather strangely for his sudden change of clothing before nodding far too knowingly for a teenager. Honestly, who was the master of this house?</p><p>Then he felt a familiar, calloused hand being slipped inside his belt, someone's hot breath on his neck, and..... oh he knew who was master of this house all right! It was sure as hell not him!</p>
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p>MDCXLIV</p>
</div><p>Some time later when Stephen was standing by the fire – even in the kilt, sitting would not be an option for some hours – they discussed the other news from the front.</p><p>“Prince Rupert has been asked to march to the relief of Newark”, Jamie said, looking worried. “We really need to secure it.”</p><p>“I know that you said it was strategically important”, Stephen said, “but surely it is only one town?”</p><p>Jamie shook his head.</p><p>“I am looking at the bigger picture”, he said, walking over to the huge map. “See, Hopton is down here in Hampshire where he holds most of the county with Waller guarding the roads east at Alton. If Rupert relieves Newark and Hopton moves against Sussex again, it would enable a pincer movement against London. And if there is one thing those rogues at Westminster are good at, it is panicking in the face of a crisis.”</p><p>Stephen was about to agree when he saw it.</p><p>“Hey!” he protested. “I am one of 'those rogues' as you call them.”</p><p>“And?” Jamie asked blithely.</p><p>Stephen would have thrown something at him, but that would have required movement. So he settled for a scowl.</p><p>“I fear that Waller will not offer battle and withdraw, which might lead to his defeat”, Jamie went on. “An army going backwards is always a drag on morale.”</p><p>Stephen saw what he was getting at.</p><p>“You wish to be there”, he said. “Not at Newark? Surely that will be the more important place?”</p><p>“It will likely be a siege, which is not my strength”, the soldier said. “But organizing men to outmanoeuvre an enemy, that I can do.”</p><p>Stephen wondered briefly what his lover would do if he actually said no. But looking at his hopeful face he knew that that was not going to happen.</p><p>“Just stay safe”, he said. “There is only one of you in this world.”</p><p>“Very true” Jamie said. “And when I come back the triumphant soldier, I will want to claim my reward. Many times over!”</p><p>Stephen shuddered at that prospect, delicious though it sounded. He could feel certain body parts praying already!</p>
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p>MDCXLIV</p>
</div><p>
  <b>March 1644</b>
  <br/>
  <b>Stalwarton, Oxfordshire, ENGLAND</b>
</p><p>Jamie had planned to ride out the next day and it was with a heavy heart that Stephen saw his lover off, grateful that Edward was still upstairs. The nobleman knew that to keep Jamie from battle would be wrong as the soldier needed it at times, but he still worried.</p><p>He worried even more when Fraser brought him news from Oxford later that same day.</p><p>“The king has dispatched Lord Forth¹ with some two thousand 'volunteers' to assist Sir Ralph Hopton, sir”, he said gravely.</p><p>Stephen winced. Jamie had been worried that Waller, usually a cautious general, had had at best only a small numerical advantage over his friend Hopton. Now that advantage would be gone. </p><p>“By 'volunteers', you mean 'volunteered'”, he said. The steward nodded.</p><p>“The earl's men”, he said. “It does make the king's army a bit of a mess though, as Mr. Buchanan would say.”</p><p>He had actually used the word 'polyglot', Stephen remembered. Hopton had about six thousand men but that included five hundred mercenaries and a further five hundred English troops back from Ireland, whose presence would certainly not lead to harmony and light. He could only hope that this 'mess' was enough to deter the Royalist commander from giving battle.</p>
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p>MDCXLIV</p>
</div><p>
  <b>March 1644</b>
  <br/>
  <b>Stalwarton, Oxfordshire, ENGLAND</b>
</p><p>There was more news the next day, but from very much the opposite direction. A letter arrived from Stephen's brother Aidan that informed him of an attempted Royalist rising in Scotland. Support for the king was strong in Moray, up in the north-east of the country, and a rising there had very clearly been co-ordinated with Montrose crossing the border with a small group of men. Rather like Jamie had said down in England the strategy was very clearly another pincer movement, with both forces converging on Stirling about halfway between them, but luckily the Covenanter government had been ready for just such an eventuality. Montrose had run into their patrols even on his first day in the Borders, and although the town of Dumfries had opened its gates to him, his men had refused to push any further into clearly hostile country. He had been forced to withdraw and that in turn had caused the Moray rebels to give up and go home. Charles Stuart's Grand Scottish Rebellion had turned into a damp squib.</p><p>Aidan also told him that he was sending a further gift to the king, which was annoying but, Stephen guessed, necessary given the times. He himself was more busy being worried about his Winter Soldier than anything else just now.</p>
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p>MDCXLIV</p>
</div><p>
  <i>Notes:</i>
  <br/>
  <i>1) Patrick Ruthven, Earl of Forth (b. 1573), general-in-chief of the king's army. Past seventy at this time but still active, he had tutored Prince Rupert when younger. He fell out with his former pupil soon after this while they were marching north against the Scots partly because the invading army was led by Alexander Leslie, a friend of his. Ruthven resigned as army leader but still fought at later battles, although his advancing alcoholism did not help.</i>
</p>
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p>MDCXLIV</p>
</div>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0007"><h2>7. Disobeying Orders</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>There is more bad news for parliament from the North where the Marquess of Newcastle outmanoeuvres the invading Scots. There is talk about big bangs and breaking wind, politicians at Westminster panic, but a charging Bard inadvertently saves the day on a Hampshire field and ends up 'armless'. <br/>Oh, and some fellow called Oliver Cromwell dies.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <b>March 1644</b>
  <br/>
  <b>Stalwarton, Oxfordshire, ENGLAND</b>
</p><p>Rather surprisingly a second letter from Aidan arrived close on the heels of the first, and Stephen groaned when he read the contents. The Scots had decided to rally at Morpeth prior to making an attack on Newcastle, but this had allowed the Marquess of Newcastle to reach the town and greatly improve its defences. He had even organized a raid on the Scottish camp which, although it had caused only minor damage, was still a warning sign that the Scottish Army might not be the panacea so many in parliament hoped. Also the Royalists were reporting a surge in numbers as the men of the North rallied against their traditional enemies from across the Border. Sigh.</p><p>He had to go to the map to check the location of the other place mentioned in the letter, as Aidan mentioned that Scottish troops had seized the small port of Sunderland just south of Newcastle¹. Stephen had not heard of it before but he knew that there was bitter resentment against the much larger town from merchants in smaller ports along the coasts of both Northumberland and Durham. The king, eager to keep Newcastle and its people onside, had insisted that merchants pay the town a landing charge whether they used its port or not; as Jamie had said this would likely be another example of the war being used to settle local grievances.</p><p>Stephen so missed his man. This war was all a horrible mess and it was not getting any better.</p>
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p>MDCXLIV</p>
</div><p>
  <b>March 1644</b>
  <br/>
  <b>Stalwarton, Oxfordshire, ENGLAND</b>
</p><p>The following day it got a whole lot worse with the news from Newark. Stephen could not forbear from swearing even though Edward was at the dinner-table.</p><p>“Bad news, sir?” the boy asked.</p><p>“Indeed”, Stephen said. “Prince Rupert has not only relieved Newark but has pretty much smashed our army that had been besieging it. Mr. Cromwell writes that parliament has ordered the abandonment of most of our holdings in Lincolnshire as they are all but indefensible.”</p><p>“My tutor taught me about the Anarchy, in King Stephen's reign, back in the twelfth century”, Edward said. “There they just seemed to sit in their castles and wait for besiegers to give up, which they often did.”</p><p>“Yes, but they did not have gunpowder in those days”, Stephen pointed out. “Only the mightiest walls today, like those at Hull, York and Plymouth, can hope to hold out for long against that sort of power. If it works, that is.”</p><p>Edward sniggered.</p><p>“Is it true what they say about the petard, sir?” he asked.</p><p>Stephen smiled.</p><p>“You mean as in being hoist by your own petard?” he said. “Yes. It does indeed come from a French word meaning 'to break wind – something that every schoolboy enjoys finding out, I know from experience! – and is a type of explosive mine. Gunpowder is a mix of three dangerous substances; get the mix wrong and it will explode on the person planting it, hence the saying. That is why the vile Gunpowder Plotters had to call in Guy Fawkes as an expert in order to make their murderous attempt on King James and his parliament.”</p><p>“Mr. Buchanan carries an empty petard with him for use on the battlefield”, the boy said. “He told me that it is too dangerous to have a real one, but of course the fellow who he throws it at will not know that and will usually run. Or at least get distracted for a moment.”</p><p>“Jamie is clever like that”, Stephen said, wondering why his eyes were watering all of a sudden.</p>
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p>MDCXLIV</p>
</div><p>
  <b>March 1644</b>
  <br/>
  <b>Stalwarton, Oxfordshire, ENGLAND</b>
</p><p>The bad news got even worse a few days later when Jamie managed to send a letter from somewhere in Hampshire; it had gotten caught in the heavy rain and the place of origin was smudged along with the first few lines. Stephen could however make out the news that parliament, panicking just as his lover had foretold, had demanded that Waller send his cavalry to safeguard them against Rupert attacking from the north. Jamie estimated that his and Hopton's armies were roughly the same size at about seven to eight thousand each, but reducing the parliamentary one by a quarter would mean that they would have to stand on the defensive and hope for some opportunity to come their way.</p><p>Now Stephen was really worried.</p>
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p>MDCXLIV</p>
</div><p>
  <b>March 1644</b>
  <br/>
  <b>Stalwarton, Oxfordshire, ENGLAND</b>
</p><p>The nobleman yawned and stared blearily at the clock. Half-past three in the morning? What on earth had wakened him?</p><p>Then he realized. There was the sound of someone working away at the window. The nobleman froze, unable to believe it, and only narrowly resisted the urge to charge across the room and throw back the curtains. Then the catch gave way and the window was being lifted....</p><p>And then his lover was in his arms, his breath hard and fast on Stephen's neck and he clung to him like he was a piece of wreckage at sea. The nobleman gently eased his lover back and started to help him out of his clothes; normally Jamie fussed far too much about neatly folding everything away but on nights like this he only wanted one thing.</p><p>All right, two things. Sleep now and something else on the morrow. It was not just the cold spring air that made the nobleman shudder.</p><p>“I want to tell you about it now”, Jamie said, yawning as he almost rolled into bed. “We won by the way.”</p><p>“I knew that you would”, Stephen smiled.</p><p>Even only semi-conscious, his lover still managed a knowing look.</p><p>“It was a damn close run thing though”, the soldier said, rolling back so that he was facing Stephen as he joined him. “Hopton was clearly moving towards London and had advanced from Winchester, but we nearly beat him to Alresford despite having more than twice as much ground to cover. Discipline makes all the difference.”</p><p>“You often say that”, Stephen said.</p><p>“Along with 'do not think that I will not be fucking you long and hard when I wake up tomorrow'”, Jamie yawned.</p><p>His lover's snark was unaffected by his tiredness, Stephen noted. He was still glad to have him back, though.</p><p>“Go on”, he pressed.</p><p>“We held a solid position near a village called Cheriton²”, Jamie said, “but they held an equally good one on the other side of a small dean. There was a wood on one side and open ground on the other, so Waller tried to secure the wood only for our men to be driven off. I was using my perspective glass to watch what they were up to – you know, the one I use when you are bathing in the river or when Fraser and Chatton leave their curtains open.”</p><p>Stephen sighed. Even barely conscious, his lover was still terrible! </p><p>“Focus!” he prompted.</p><p>“I always do when seeing handsome men naked!” Jamie grinned. “It looked like we were losing and I could see that Hopton was wanting to send his men forward to finish us off; we were still disorganized from the drive on the wood. Luckily that idiot Forth wanted to sit tight so they did not come, and that was when we had a stroke of luck. One of their commanders³ either did not get the order or just chose to ignore it; as I said, discipline. He led about five hundred cavalry down a narrow road into our position and got slaughtered.”</p><p>“Hopton just stood there and let it happen?” Stephen asked, surprised. “He is one of their better commanders, I thought.”</p><p>“From what I know about old Forth I am afraid it was what they call the Galloping General Trick”, Jamie said. “He wanted Hopton to make all the decisions but he would overrule those he disliked; in other words he wanted to be able to gallop in and take the credit for any victory but to run away and shift the blame onto his subordinate for any defeat. I say that because they took an age to decide what to do next while their rogue regiment was being cut to pieces, until Forth finally sent in his cavalry.”</p><p>“Only his cavalry?” Stephen asked. “Why not a general advance?”</p><p>“I would wager that would have been Hopton's choice”, Jamie yawned. “He is very much an up and at 'em sort. Cavalry was the worst thing they could have done; the two roads across the open area were both lined with high hedges so the horses could not spread out for the normal devastating effect. We beat them off, then some of our men on the western edge of our line managed to slip round the side and threaten their baggage train. That caused a general panic; they fired Alresford for which I am sure the townsfolk were less than grateful and withdrew back to Winchester.”</p><p>He yawned again and snuggled into his lover. Stephen smiled and wrapped his arms around him, holding close the man that he loved more than life itself.</p>
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p>MDCXLIV</p>
</div><p>
  <b>April 1644</b>
  <br/>
  <b>Stalwarton, Oxfordshire, ENGLAND</b>
</p><p>A few days later and rather unfortunately before Stephen had fully recovered from his lover's welcome home – it had been less 'the following morning' and more 'the following day and a half', the dog! – he had a visitor. His son Luke came round, in truth looking in little better state than he himself may or may not have done.</p><p>“If I get my hands on that horny bastard of yours who keeps giving my wife ideas”, the young man grumbled, “you are going to have his funeral to attend. Maybe even be mine if this keeps up!”</p><p>Stephen smiled, but noted that his son did not.</p><p>“Is something wrong?” he asked.</p><p>“Not for us as such”, the young man said. “But Anne and I are going to have to make a journey. I am afraid that her brother Oliver has died.”</p><p>Stephen winced in sympathy. Cromwell had lost one grown son to illness already, Robert dying at college five years back. Now he had lost a second.</p><p>“How did he die?” he asked.</p><p>“Sickness when he was on garrison duty⁴ at Newport Paynel”, Luke sighed. “It might almost have been better if Prince Rupert had kept the place. Jamie is right about that; our armies seem to lose as many through disease as they do on the battlefield, if not more.”</p><p>“So you are going to pick him up and take him home to Ely”, Stephen said. “That is good of you. It will hit poor Cromwell hard, for all that he is so stoic.”</p><p>“Anne suggested it”, Luke said, “and I was hoping that you could obtain passes from Oxford for us.”</p><p>“I will see to it today”, Stephen promised.</p>
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p>MDCXLIV</p>
</div><p>
  <i>Notes:</i>
  <br/>
  <i>1) Today those two cities still have something of a love-hate relationship, just without the love part. At this time Sunderland was merely the harbour for nearby Bishopwearmouth, from which it would not be formally separated until 1719.</i>
  <br/>
  <i>2) Originally called the Battle of Alresford, it is today more usually called the Battle of Cheriton. Fires were common back then; New Alresford as it later became was all but destroyed three more times not long after (1689, 1710 and 1736) but the rebuilding in stone after the third of these has given today's town a pleasant Georgian look.</i>
  <br/>
  <i>3) Colonel Sir Henry Bard (b. 1616). As Jamie says a bit of a dilettante but a brave (if foolhardy) fighter; he lost an arm in the battle and was captured. His daughter Frances was a mistress of Prince Rupert.</i>
  <br/>
  <i>4) Exact figures are hard to find, but it is certain that more were killed indirectly (such as young Oliver Cromwell) through disease than were killed on the battlefield.</i>
</p>
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p>MDCXLIV</p>
</div>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0008"><h2>8. The Talk</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>It's Girl Power time as Stephen and Jamie are in for a ticking-off from a feisty female, at the start of an eventful period that will see the war tilt first one way and then the other. Prince Rupert heads north to possibly relieve the besieged city of York but in his absence the king makes yet another poor decision (see under piscine creatures defecating in a marine environment). Victory is, it seems, still anyone's to grab.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <b>April 1644</b>
  <br/>
  <b>Stalwarton, Oxfordshire, ENGLAND</b>
</p><p>“A hunting what?”</p><p>Stephen was quite proud to have managed three whole words, given that some horn-dog of a lover had said that he would distract him from his son's absence from the area. Jamie had distracted him and then some. Honestly, where the blazes had he found a set of silk-lined handcuffs?</p><p>“A hunting poodle”, Jamie said as he continued to thrust away inside his lover, presumably in the search for Mecca. “Prince Rupert's dog, Boye, or Sergeant-Major-General Boye as they call him. Some think the animal is a familiar and can catch bullets in his teeth¹.”</p><p>“It must be a rare breed”, Stephen managed.</p><p>“What, you want me to breed you up?” Jamie asked, quite deliberately mishearing him. “Whatever my liege requests.”</p><p>And he set to again, making the nobleman writhe in ecstasy beneath him.</p><p>“I asked Edward if he might want a pet”, Jamie said casually, “but he said no. He understands that you have to have a certain degree of dedication to look after something so weak and defenceless.”</p><p>Stephen was about to nod when he spotted it. Was his lover being snarky again there?</p><p>Jamie nodded absent-mindedly, then hoisted his lover up to his chest before beginning to walk him around the room. Stephen smiled weakly and decided to pass out. Manfully, of course.</p>
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p>MDCXLIV</p>
</div><p>
  <b>April 1644</b>
  <br/>
  <b>Stalwarton, Oxfordshire, ENGLAND</b>
</p><p>Only a complete cynic, Stephen thought, would link the arrival of his cousin Baldur and the latter's eldest daughter Thunor to the Hall with young Edward suddenly deciding that he had to stay in the church and complete his prayers. Yes, such a belief would have been totally cynical.</p><p>He owed some smirking ha'p'orth in the room a shilling for predicting it, the bastard!</p><p>“Anne was very cross the other day”, Baldur smiled, yawning as he sat down. “She found Odin and Thor playing at soldiers after this victory at Cheriton, and they felt the rough end of her hairbrush as a result.”</p><p>“Father!”</p><p>Nine-year-old Thunor was looking exasperatedly at her father as if he was the most embarrassing parent in the whole wide world. Neither Stephen nor Jamie smirked; this was one formidable young lady.</p><p>Smirking internally did not count.</p><p>“Thunor wants to ask you something”, Baldur said gravely.</p><p>“I do”, his daughter said. “It is about Edward, who is hiding from me in the church just now.”</p><p>Stephen very nearly smiled, but just managed to catch it.</p><p>“He is at his prayers, I believe”, he said.</p><p>The girl gave him such a look!</p><p>“He is fourteen now, so a teenager”, she said sharply. “Which is what I want to talk to you about, my lord. As his guardian you are meant to look after him.”</p><p>“I do”, Stephen said.</p><p>She gave him an even more exasperated look than the one she had bestowed on her father.</p><p>“He is a teenage boy”, she said as if she was talking to someone who needed things explaining in short words, “and we all know what that means. He will have temptations over the coming few years and it will be nearly a decade before I can get him down the aisle and properly sorted. You have to keep him on the straight and narrow, my lord.”</p><p>Stephen thought wryly that, legally speaking, the firebrand before him would have been able to marry her intended (whether he willed it or no) just three years from now. For some reason he did not voice that thought.</p><p>“I was planning to do that anyway, my lady”, he said.</p><p>“He is a teenage boy”, she repeated, “and my grandmother has told me what my father and his brothers were like growing up. She has even written them into some of her stories.”</p><p>The horrific thought crossed Stephen's mind that the girl might suddenly produce one of said stories in an attempt to blackmail him. Fortunately she did not seem to be arm.... carrying anything.</p><p>“You will need to be on your guard”, she said. “I have made it clear to him that  he will not be a soldier or anything remotely dangerous, but I have yet to decide on his career. He will be informed when I have.”</p><p>Stephen was beginning to see why his son was suddenly so prayerful. And likely looking for a back way out of the church if he had any sense!</p><p>“I promise that I will do my very best”, he said, ignoring a lover who was openly smirking behind the girl.</p><p>“Make sure you do”, she said. “That goes for you too, Mr. Buchanan, so you can stop looking like that!”</p><p>Jamie blushed fiercely. She spun round to face him. </p><p>“He looks up to you as well”, she said, “so you are equally to blame if anything does go wrong. That is how it is. Now I must go down to the church; Edward will soon be finished and will be discovering that I persuaded the pastor to lock the back door.”</p><p>She strode off, leaving all three men agape.</p><p>“We should send her against the king's armies”, Jamie smiled, “but I think that there are likely laws against that sort of thing. If only to protect her potential victims!”</p>
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p>MDCXLIV</p>
</div><p>
  <b>May 1644</b>
  <br/>
  <b>Stalwarton, Oxfordshire, ENGLAND</b>
</p><p>“I do not like that Rupert is taking a force north towards York”, Jamie said. “But I think that even he will find our armies too great for him to take on.”</p><p>Stephen looked at his lover.</p><p>“You wish to be there?” he asked cautiously.</p><p>“Not this time”, Jamie sighed. “If they do clash it will be the biggest encounter of the war, far greater than Alresford and more important whichever way it goes. One man would likely make little difference.”</p><p>“The king is but one man”, Stephen said, “yet he can make all the difference – for good or ill.”</p>
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p>MDCXLIV</p>
</div><p>
  <b>May 1644</b>
  <br/>
  <b>Stalwarton, Oxfordshire, ENGLAND</b>
</p><p>He was to be proven right in less than twenty-four hours, when Chatton brought back news from his trip to Oxford.</p><p>“What was he thinking of?” Jamie exclaimed. “His nephew goes off to try to save his cause in the north – and he immediately abandons his outposts defending Oxford.”</p><p>“The king must not appreciate the seriousness of the loss at Alresford”, Stephen said. “And you know how he is with his advisers; he takes what he likes from whoever is in good odour with him, certainly not from any 'melancholy men' as he once said. With Rupert gone his enemies at court are again seeking to undermine him, even if they may well doom their own cause by so doing.”</p><p>“We may have our armies at the gates of Oxford ere long”, Jamie said. “Although we still have the greatest hurdle to overcome, of course.”</p><p>“What is that?” Stephen asked.</p><p>“Getting Waller and Essex to cooperate”, Jamie sighed. “Maybe even preventing Essex from striking some sort of deal that puts him in a position of power and leaves the rest of us out in the cold.”</p><p>“Do you really think that he might do that?” Stephen asked dubiously.</p><p>“He and Manchester are both men who still think that this king can be dealt with somehow”, Jamie said. “For all that I do not trust Vane – with anything – he at least realizes that the end deal will have to somehow exclude Charles Stuart as he can never be trusted. But then what? His sons raised by him in his image, the Palatines, or who?”</p><p>Stephen had one idea as to who, but he kept silent on that.</p>
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p>MDCXLIV</p>
</div><p>
  <b>May 1644</b>
  <br/>
  <b>Stalwarton, Oxfordshire, ENGLAND</b>
</p><p>“Do you know this Robert Blake², my lord?”</p><p>The soldier looked up as his lover handed him a brick. They were repairing the wall that ran alongside Manor Farm, which lay south of the main road through Stalwarton. Both men knew that they were certainly being watched with bewilderment by the locals or at least their wives and children, and likely considered the last of the great English eccentrics, but they both enjoyed this sort of physical labour with a visible end-result.</p><p>Although, Stephen thought with a smile, 'someone' had not needed to say how much he enjoyed a certain other type of physical labour!</p><p>“A solid West Country fellow, and we are lucky to have him on our side”, he answered. “How he has managed to hold a place like Lyme for so long with no walls and Prince Maurice battering away at him for weeks on end, the Lord alone knows! I know that Warwick managed to get some supplies and men into the town after the first assault which probably saved it from falling, but there is no way he can hold out much longer. And it is one of only two places we have left in the south-west now, Plymouth being the other.”</p><p>“They are saying that the king pulled in those garrisons because he thought that he might then spare men to help his nephew take the place”, Jamie said. “Essex has already brought his men up to Abingdon and scotched that plan.”</p><p>“The king is full of plans”, Stephen sighed. “That is one of his many problems. Offer him six separate ways of tackling something and he will more often than not try them all, on the basis that one of them should succeed. It is like his dealings with London, negotiating on one hand and encouraging plots on the other which, when discovered, make people fear him.”</p><p>"Thick as a brick!" Jamie smiled, handing him his next brick.</p>
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p>MDCXLIV</p>
</div><p>
  <i>Notes:</i>
  <br/>
  <i>1) A theory comprehensively disproved at the battle of Marston Moor a while later when the dog escaped his handler and went looking for his master on the battlefield. He ended up feeling decidedly ruff (sorry!).</i>
  <br/>
  <i>2) Robert Blake (b. 1598). He was promoted to colonel for his successful defence of Lyme and would pull off an even greater feat by holding Taunton the following year. He then went on to reform and lead the parliamentarian Navy into several battles, and became regarded as one of our greatest ever admirals. He died in 1657 but upon the Restoration King Charles the Second ordered his body exhumed from Westminster Abbey and dumped in a common grave, and Royalist historians worked with some success to write him out of the nation's history.</i>
</p>
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p>MDCXLIV</p>
</div>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0009"><h2>9. Messes And Marston Moor</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Prince Rupert makes a mess in Lancashire, but just as the parliamentarian armies are closing in on the king's capital, the Earl of Essex contrives to make an even bigger mess around Oxford. It seems that the parliamentarian cause will pay for it when first the king defeats Waller and then the prince somehow relieves York, but Rupert is beaten if narrowly at the battle of Marston Moor. The North looks lost for the king – but can he still win in the south?</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <b>May 1644</b>
  <br/>
  <b>Stalwarton, Oxfordshire, ENGLAND</b>
</p><p>“Rupert is heading through Cheshire”, Stephen told Jamie a few days later. The two men had been lucky to get their wall finished; less than half an hour after they were done it had started bucketing down and the rain had not stopped for two days. </p><p>“I wonder if he is indeed heading to York”, Jamie said. “He cannot go there now, especially after Selby. He would be hopelessly outnumbered. What do you think he will do?”</p><p>The advent of the Scots, however slow, had led the Marquess of Newcastle to abandon his interests south of the Humber, enabling the Earl of Manchester to secure Lincolnshire. Moving with unaccustomed speed for him (even Cromwell had remarked on it in a letter to Stephen) he had struck into the southern West Riding and had defeated the Royalists at Selby. There would now be three armies at York to fight the approaching prince; Manchester's, Fairfax's and the bulk of the Scots minus the small force which they had left besieging Newcastle.</p><p>“His obvious target is Lancashire, which should have been mostly ours with that idiot Derby gone”, Stephen said. “Unfortunately he left his wife Lady Charlotte¹ behind, and as our men have been finding to their cost that is one lady not to be taken lightly. She had turned Lathom House into a formidable fortress and has beaten off several attempts to oust her. If Rupert does go there, that will likely tempt her husband back from his island seclusion.”</p><p>“The prince's only chance would be to catch his enemies divided”, Jamie said, “but I think they are too wily for that. York is built where two rivers meet so that means three siege camps linked only by temporary bridges and we saw at Nantwich the dangers of such an arrangement. But Leven² in particular will have his scouts along the eastern side of the Pennines ready for any approach. He is not brilliant but he is too wily a bird to be caught off-guard.”</p><p>“Meanwhile there is more bad news for the king from the Continent”, Stephen said. “The Portuguese have won a major victory against their Spanish overlords at a place called Montijo. They are demanding their independence back so there will be no help from Iberia for the king.”</p><p>“But there will be for the Irish rebels”, Jamie said, “who we know are getting weapons in from both Spain and France. It is still a complete mess!”</p>
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p>MDCXLIV</p>
</div><p>
  <b>May 1644</b>
  <br/>
  <b>Stalwarton, Oxfordshire, ENGLAND</b>
</p><p>“Did you ever visit Geneva, Mr. Buchanan?”</p><p>Jamie looked at Edward in surprise.</p><p>“No, sir”, he said. “That is part of Switzerland, a fiercely independent and mountainous area where there was no fighting. I was always much further north. Why do you ask?”</p><p>“Today's news-sheet mentions that Prince Rupert has lain waste the Geneva of the North”, the boy said. “Unless we have somewhere of that name in England?”</p><p>“It is a nickname, Edward”, Stephen explained. “The small town of Bolton, some distance from Manchester; they think themselves a lot more cultured than their larger and noisier neighbours so adopted that title. The prince has been sniffing around Manchester – he forced a crossing of the Mersey at Stockport the other day – and that led our armies besieging Lady Charlotte to withdraw to Bolton. The prince's men must have caught them before they got there.”</p><p>“But why did he let his men kill civilians?” Edward asked.</p><p>“You have not seen the horrors of war yet, sir”, Jamie said gently. “A soldier is a trained killing machine, and not something easily controlled. In a normal siege there can be parleys beforehand and everyone can know what the rules are, but a confused action like this is nearly always a bloody business. For all that the prince is a good soldier he has only a loose hold on some of his men; we saw that right back at Edgehill where had he effected more control, he might well have won the day for his master. I fear that this will blacken his name for many a day.”</p><p>“Some commanders believe that such actions will cause other places to surrender without a fight”, Stephen added. “It may be true for weaker places, but as the king found out at Brentford the reverse can also happen; citizens of a defensible town think that the same might happen to them and determine to fight to the end. That leaves us basically Manchester and the small port of Liverpool; the latter has no real defences but as a port we should be able to get the weapons there away by sea.”</p><p>“Thunor is right about my not being a soldier”, the boy said. “I suppose that I ought to tell her that, but I would rather not.”</p><p>Both men smiled at that.</p>
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p>MDCXLIV</p>
</div><p>
  <b>June 1644</b>
  <br/>
  <b>Stalwarton, Oxfordshire, ENGLAND</b>
</p><p>Stephen stared at his steward in horror.</p><p>“Are you sure?” he asked.</p><p>“Aye, sir”, Fraser said. “Iain went down to Oxford first thing and heard it there. Sir William and my Lord Essex met at Stow to discuss the siege of the king's capital, but the earl has decided that he will march his army down to Dorsetshire to save Lyme and only then come back.”</p><p>“The earl is mad!” Jamie exclaimed. “Parliament told him to send a contingent of his men south to help poor Blake, not his whole army. What is he playing at?”</p><p>“Iain's friend said he thinks he might capture the queen, who is lying in at Exeter”, Fraser said. “That would be a great prize and might even force the king to terms, I suppose.”</p><p>Stephen suddenly thought of something.</p><p>“I thought that you were supposed to go down today?” he said. “Why did you send Chatton?”</p><p>The burly steward blushed.</p><p>“Last night was Iain's birthday”, he said, not looking at the nobleman. “His thirty-sixth, so we.... you know.”</p><p>Stephen tried but failed to hold back a smile. The man before his was fifty-five years old and, now he looked closer, listing slightly to one side. </p><p>“You should have said”, Jamie said. “Ste and I can do both your jobs for the rest of the day, so you can spend it with Iain.”</p><p>The poor fellow somehow contrived to look both grateful and terrified.</p><p>“Thank you, sirs”, he said. <i>“I think!”</i></p>
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p>MDCXLIV</p>
</div><p>
  <b>June 1644</b>
  <br/>
  <b>Stalwarton, Oxfordshire, ENGLAND</b>
</p><p>There was more news from the North a few days later, and again it was not good.</p><p>“Rupert's men have taken Liverpool”, Stephen sighed, “although we did get our stores of gunpowder away by ship.”</p><p>Jamie looked at him sharply.</p><p>“But?” he prompted.</p><p>“Our commander used a ruse to delay an assault, leaving behind his weakest men and putting as many pennants along the walls as he could”, he said. “When they broke in and found out, the prince's men were not pleased. It was another massacre³, although possibly not on the same scale as Bolton.”</p><p>“And another black mark to the prince's name”, Jamie sighed. “He surely cannot risk an assault on Manchester even with the men Derby has rounded up for him, especially if he has his eye on York. Besides, our armies there will be read to march to intercept him when he does cross the Pennines. We shall soon know, either way.”</p>
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p>MDCXLIV</p>
</div><p>
  <b>June 1644</b>
  <br/>
  <b>Stalwarton, Oxfordshire, ENGLAND</b>
</p><p>Stephen groaned as he read his latest letter.</p><p>“Diana must be employing the birds of the air to do her work”, he sighed. “How can she know of a battle twenty miles from us but over eighty from her? And write to tell us of our so-called leaders' latest foul-ups?”</p><p>“What has happened?” Jamie asked.</p><p>“Waller did as Essex told him – grudgingly, I would wager – and shadowed the king as he moved around the county”, Stephen said. “At Cropredy, which is just past Banbury, the two armies found themselves marching along opposite banks of our own river out there. The king's forces were overstretched and Waller thought that he saw a chance to attack, but was driven back with loss.”</p><p>“A great loss?” Jamie asked.</p><p>“The usual, I am afraid”, his lover said. “Relatively few in the battle but many more in the disarray from the retreat afterwards. I do not think that the king has the strength to march on London, and he surely cannot get to York to join his nephew, so what will he do? We know how he feels about his wife; now that Essex has relieved Lyme and is reportedly moving against Taunton, he must see that she is in danger. He has more troops than the earl, too. This is not good, not good at all.”</p>
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p>MDCXLIV</p>
</div><p>
  <b>July 1644</b>
  <br/>
  <b>Stalwarton, Oxfordshire, ENGLAND</b>
</p><p>It was actually three days after the momentous events in the North that news reached Stalwarton, and it was only that quickly because the messenger who brought the tidings to Oxford knew the area and stopped by Fraser's and Chatton's cottage to get some water for himself and his horse. The younger steward brought the news to the Hall while the elder accompanied the rider to Oxford and got further details, then returned to his master to provide them.</p><p>“A narrow victory”, Stephen sighed. “One which should have been decisive, given our twenty-five thousand outnumbered their eighteen thousand. But then our army, like Hopton's at Alresford, was a diverse one.”</p><p>“And the prince came so close to victory”, Jamie said. “It will be hard on him; his enemies at court will no doubt be rejoicing.”</p><p>“More fools them!” Stephen said shortly. “This all but dooms the king's cause, and they will find themselves in the firing line ere long.”</p><p>“We were very lucky in one aspect at least”, Jamie said. “Especially after the prince eluded our armies and somehow got into York. They say that he was too high-handed with Newcastle – we know how easily he takes offence – but also that Eythin⁴ was there and saw a chance to make trouble.”</p><p>“He was the one everyone said was responsible for the prince's time in gaol, was he not?” Stephen asked. </p><p>The soldier nodded.</p><p>“He seems to have fomented unrest among the men and delayed their arrival to join with the prince on Marston Moor”, Jamie said. “Just as well; the reports say that our three armies were in some disorder but luckily the greater numbers and their missing men prevented an attack. It finally came late in the day; it seems to have been a messy affair but Cromwell and Fairfax eventually managed to lead a charge right round and strike the enemy from behind, which broke them.”</p><p>“That is it, then”, Stephen said with a sigh. “They will come south, finish off the king's main army and this horrible war will be over and done with.”</p>
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p>MDCXLIV</p>
</div><p>Ah.</p>
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p>MDCXLIV</p>
</div><p>
  <i>Notes:</i>
  <br/>
  <i>1) Charlotte Stanley (b. 1599). Quite a gal!</i>
  <br/>
  <i>2) Sir Alexander Leslie, Earl of Leven (b. 1582). Another experienced campaigner from the German wars, he had led the Scottish armies to victory in both the Bishops' Wars. Unprepossessing in his appearance, he is thought to be the 'crooked man' in the nursery rhyme, the 'crooked stile' being the Solemn League and Covenant which brought England and Scotland together into the 'crooked house'. Alexander's descendants still hold the title which has merged with the earldom of Melville, with Alexander Leslie-Melville (b. 1984) being the current (2020) holder of both titles.</i>
  <br/>
  <i>3) Propaganda means that we will never know the real extent of deaths in either instance. It may be that as few as 200 or as many as 2,000 were slain at Bolton, although even the lower figure would have made it the worst civilian atrocity thus far in English history. At Liverpool we only know that 'most' of the 400 men left behind were killed.</i>
  <br/>
  <i>4) James King, Lord Eythin (b. 1589). An able commander but one prone to prickliness, his failure to act at the Battle of Vlotho in 1638 had indeed led to Rupert's capture and the end of Charles Louis's attempt to regain the Palatine. Rupert had openly blamed Eythin for this and a feud had been initiated. James's only child did not survive him so the title died out.</i>
</p>
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p>MDCXLIV</p>
</div>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0010"><h2>10. Gone West</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>In the aftermath of the great victory at Marston Moor, Stephen and Jamie receive some good(ish) news from their family, which they celebrate in a most refined manner (snark!). But the Earl of Essex then contrives to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory by refusing to return and defend London, instead heading into the West confident that it will rise to support him.<br/>He is mistaken.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <b>July 1644</b>
  <br/>
  <b>Stalwarton, Oxfordshire, ENGLAND</b>
</p><p>“Do you think it is true?”</p><p>Stephen stared blearily up at his tormentor. He had had a bad feeling ever since the victory last week that Jamie might wish to 'mark the occasion', and his fears had not been helped by an unexpected visit by Brennus who had spent far too long talking with his lover. He only hoped that his cousin Thor would be getting the same sort of treatment that he had just been subjected to. Probably more so; one of his cousin's nicknames for his lover was 'Trip' as in short for tripod – and having seen The Brennster, Stephen knew just how accurate that was!</p><p>It really was fortunate that he was not the jealous sort.</p><p>“What?” he managed, wondering if his insides would ever forgive him. Worse, the bastard next to him in bed had openly smirked when the nobleman had found a plate too heavy to hold – it had been pewter, damnation! – although at least he had fed him. A;though he was now giving him the sort of look that suggested further molestation was imminent.</p><p>Jamie chuckled but answered.</p><p>“That the king gave his nephew vague instructions that led to him offering battle and did not try to update him after Cropredy”, the soldier said, tracing his hand down his lover's chest in a way that was arguably tolerable. “After that there was no longer any need for Rupert to have given battle; he would have done better to have abandoned York to its fate and rejoined his uncle to try to win in the south. They also say that the prince has resolved to keep said letter on his person for whenever some wiseacre starts telling him what he should have done with hindsight.”</p><p>“Very Charles Stuart”, Stephen said, yawning widely. </p><p>“I do wonder that he did not at least try to get a message to his nephew”, Jamie mused. “He did have three days, but I suppose that once again he assumed God would provide.”</p><p>Stephen nodded, then winced. Even that hurt. And someone could damn well cut with the smirking. He had no reason to....</p><p>All right, he had reason. <i>But that did not make it any less irritating!</i></p>
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p>MDCXLIV</p>
</div><p>
  <b>July 1644</b>
  <br/>
  <b>Stalwarton, Oxfordshire, ENGLAND</b>
</p><p>There was what looked at first like good news for Stephen two days later, when his son paid a visit.</p><p>“I wanted you to be the first to be told”, he said, “although Anne has of course written to her father. We are expecting, sometime next January the doctor says.”</p><p>For some reason he looked sideways at Jamie. His father wondered why.</p><p>“That is wonderful news!” Stephen exclaimed. “The first of the new generation... oh!”</p><p>His face fell. Jamie chuckled darkly.</p><p>“As my dear friend had just worked out”, he said silkily, “that means he is going to become a grandfather. At not yet forty. Go Lucius!”</p><p>The boy grinned, while his father did his best to put on a happy face. He really was pleased for his son, just.... a grandfather at his age!</p>
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p>MDCXLIV</p>
</div><p>That evening a certain soldier, who should have known better, generously offered to 'receive' for once as 'now you are getting on, you may not have it in you for much longer'. Snarky bastard! Stephen had it in his lover good and proper, all evening, and he did not need that walking-stick that 'someone' had very deliberately placed by the door. Nor did he need to have that nap afterwards; he had just been resting his eyes. So there!</p><p>Quite how he could see his lover smirking when he was asle.... resting, the Lord alone knew!</p>
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p>MDCXLIV</p>
</div><p>
  <b>July 1644</b>
  <br/>
  <b>Stalwarton, Oxfordshire, ENGLAND</b>
</p><p>“York has fallen.”</p><p>Stephen looked across the study at his lover, who was looking even more edible in his kilt. </p><p>“That was inevitable, given Marston Moor”, he said. “What about the Marquess of Newcastle?”</p><p>“He has fled abroad”, Jamie said, “saying that he will never raise an army for the king as ' he could not stand the humiliation of being in England'.”</p><p>“Or even he has run out of money”, Stephen sighed. </p><p>“Is something wrong?” Jamie asked. “I would have thought such news would have pleased you?”</p><p>“Essex has refused parliament's orders to bring his army back to London”, Stephen said. “He is still after Taunton, then he thinks that he might catch the Queen at Exeter. She had a difficult birth last month as usual although the girl, named after her, is healthy enough. If the king does rush to his wife's rescue then Essex might be forced into a battle, which is the last thing that we need.”</p><p>“Cannot parliament get one of the armies from York to come south and help out?” Jamie asked. </p><p>His lover shook his head.</p><p>“The Scots are focussing on taking Newcastle”, he said, “Fairfax still has mopping up to do in Yorkshire with formidable places like Pontefract and Scarborough holding out, and Manchester is, as per usual, having another of his sulks¹. Cromwell wrote to me again the other day and he is pretty much fed up; they have the men to take Newark but his superior will not move. Still, I am sure that Essex would not be so stupid as to go any further west than Exeter, otherwise he would be bottled up in the peninsula and forced to fight.”</p>
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p>MDCXLIV</p>
</div><p>
  <b>July 1644</b>
  <br/>
  <b>Stalwarton, Oxfordshire, ENGLAND</b>
</p><p>Unfortunately for Stephen and his cause, it seemed that his fellow nobleman <i>could</i> be that stupid. A week later he was in his study at Stalwarton reading in horror what had happened.</p><p>“He did not make for Plymouth?” Jamie asked, equally incredulous. “Where he might at least have had a friendly garrison at his back? What is wrong with the fellow?”</p><p>“He wrote to parliament that with the North secure, he was sure that the West would surrender the moment he turned up”, Stephen said exasperatedly. “He somehow overlooked that with a royal army hot on his heels – the king is in Exeter now – that was never going to happen.”</p><p>“And he did not even capture the Queen?” Jamie asked.</p><p>“She escaped to France, ill as she was”, Stephen said. “He briefly had her daughter but had to leave her behind when the king approached; as you know there is only limited sea-access to that port.”</p><p>“Warwick cannot take the Navy down to help him?” Jamie asked. “Or at least fetch him and his men to safety?”</p><p>“Better to fetch the men and leave him behind!” Stephen said sharply. “Why he did not get the cavalry to make a run for it, pile his infantry into Plymouth and await rescue that way, Lord alone knows. What is he playing at?”</p>
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p>MDCXLIV</p>
</div><p>
  <b>August 1644</b>
  <br/>
  <b>Stalwarton, Oxfordshire, ENGLAND</b>
</p><p>“As if we do not have enough troubles”, Stephen sighed. “Now the Scots are unhappy.”</p><p>“Because your parliament keeps 'forgetting' to pay my countrymen?” Jamie asked with what was obviously fake innocence.</p><p>“Government in this country was never designed to get money coming in constantly”, Stephen said. “The king living off his own and calling a parliament when he needed a subsidy; the system worked well for centuries until some idiot called Charles Stuart decided that he knew better.”</p><p>“And not at all that is the same men in parliament who would likely be paying the taxes for the money they <i>promised</i> my countrymen”, Jamie pointed out. “Dear me no!”</p><p>Stephen glared at him. As if the bastard needed additional reasons to be snarky!</p><p>“Then this fuss over Marston Moor”, he said crossly. “It was a joint victory; Cromwell's and Fairfax's cavalry charge could not have saved the day had the Scottish infantry not held for so long. But the news-sheets are saying that Cromwell is the hero of the hour, totally forgetting that we would not have dared force a battle without our allies.”</p><p>“As they say, triumph has countless fathers while defeat is always an orphan²”, Jamie smiled. </p><p>“Well, Essex will likely be the father of a major defeat if he is not careful”, Stephen sighed. “Surely he has to try to slip round the king, or offer battle before he is pinned somewhere hopeless?”</p><p>“At least the situation elsewhere is more promising”, Jamie said consolingly. “The king's garrisons in the North cannot surely hold out much longer, especially once Newcastle has fallen to the Scots. And we took and held Oswestry in western Shropshire, which further blocks the roads between the king and his Welsh recruiting grounds.”</p><p>“I would not be surprised that when the Scots do take Newcastle, they use it as a bargaining chip”, Stephen said. “Vane said in his last letter that London's patience with the war is fraying. If the Scots sit on the coal supplies and the capital has another cold winter, there may well be trouble.”</p>
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p>MDCXLIV</p>
</div><p>
  <i>Notes:</i>
  <br/>
  <i>1) Manchester's reluctance to fight on seems to stem from a meeting with men sent up by parliament after Marston Moor when they likely discussed alternative ways to end the war, including the deposition of the king.</i>
  <br/>
  <i>2) From a quote by Roman historian and politician Tacitus written around the year 98; 'this is an unfair thing about war; victory is claimed by all, failure to one alone.'.</i>
</p>
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p>MDCXLIV</p>
</div>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0011"><h2>11. Latin Lessons</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Away from the actual battlefield parliament manages to strike a blow against the king, but it is not enough to save their main army from destruction at Lostwithiel down in distant Cornwall. The king begins his march on London and all eyes are on him, so no-one pays much attention when Scotland is invaded by an army of three men, which as things turn out is a mistake. Also Stephen learns some Latin – the hard way!</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <b>August 1644</b>
  <br/>
  <b>Stalwarton, Oxfordshire, ENGLAND</b>
</p><p>“All I am saying”, Jamie said coolly, “is that the timing is suspicious. This is Harry Vane we are talking about here, the man who could enter the church behind you yet be in your seat before you reached it.”</p><p>Stephen drew a ragged breath and tried (unsuccessfully) to find somewhere more comfortable in his padded chair. After the horn-dog opposite had quoted Tacitus at him he had boasted that he was sure that if he read enough Roman writings to the nobleman, he would come to appreciate them. So Stephen had said that they could try that.</p><p>A certain soldier had neglected to mention that while reading out the works of someone turned to dust over a millennium back, he would be fucking the man listening to them. Between. Every. Damn. Sentence!</p><p>“You”, he grumbled, “are getting worse!”</p><p>“I have the entire works of Cicero for tonight”, Jamie said brightly.</p><p>Stephen gave him such a look!</p><p>“We all know that the king was poised to make his nephew general of all his armies”, the soldier said with an irritating smirk, “but lo and behold! his elder brother rolls up in London at precisely the worst possible time. I know Charles Louis could sponge for England – well, the Palatinate – but his arrival puts the king in an impossible position. Everyone knows that his nephew is after the throne and only the unpopular Stuarts are in his way. Worse, he is still unmarried¹ so Rupert is his heir and close to the throne too, something I am sure the queen and her allies never miss a chance to point out to the king.”</p><p>“So cynical”, Stephen smiled.</p><p>“I think you mean, so correct!” Jamie countered.</p><p>The nobleman sighed again. His lover was incorrigible!</p>
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p>MDCXLIV</p>
</div><p>
  <b>August 1644</b>
  <br/>
  <b>Stalwarton, Oxfordshire, ENGLAND</b>
</p><p>Stephen would like to have thought that things could have been worse. But he doubted it.</p><p>“Only Essex”, he sighed. “Getting himself pinned down at somewhere like Lostwithiel with its high cliffs, so that the Navy could not reach him. The only saving grace is that the cavalry managed to slip out and make their way to us.”</p><p>“Essex himself escaped by boat”, Jamie reminded him.</p><p>“As I said, the only saving grace was the cavalry”, Stephen said bitterly. “It would almost have been better if he had been captured and we could have some leaders who want to fight until this terrible war is done with.”</p><p>Jamie looked at his lover shrewdly.</p><p>“There is something more to this than a hopeless earl”, he said. “What is it?”</p><p>“Ned Watkins over in Wolfstown”, Stephen sighed. “His sister lives over in Wiltshire so I asked Diana to put out feelers to see if she was all right.”</p><p>“And she is not?” Jamie asked.</p><p>“She is”, Stephen said, “but her husband is not. He was hung by our men after he was captured in a raid there. The king's men had hung seven Irishmen – yes, English troops back from serving in Ireland and Protestants to boot – so our side decided to hang all twelve of their prisoners, including him. This war is turning very ugly indeed.”</p><p>“Why were our men pushing into Wiltshire?” Jamie asked. “Is it a follow-up after the success at Alresford in Hampshire, next door?”</p><p>“Partly, but also because Anthony Ashley Cooper came over to us earlier in the year”, Stephen said. “He was in charge of Poole, and he is quite popular around eastern Dorsetshire. Now that Lyme is saved – how Blake managed to hold out as long as he did was frankly a miracle! – there is a desire to push our borders across the county so that we can re-establish links with it.”</p><p>“Not any time soon after Lostwithiel”, Jamie said. “The king will know that at least one of our victorious northern armies will be marching southwards and that this may well be his last chance to move on London. He still has enough time left in the year to make it here. Thanks to that idiot Essex, we might still lose this war!”</p>
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p>MDCXLIV</p>
</div><p>
  <b>August 1644</b>
  <br/>
  <b>Stalwarton, Oxfordshire, ENGLAND</b>
</p><p>It was nearly the end of the month when more troubles appeared on the horizon. Although they were very distant ones, and not even the professional soldier foresaw just what they would one day evolve into.</p><p>“The Earl of Antrim's Irish army was not a fantasy after all”, Stephen observed as he read the news from London (how Diana had found out what was happening over four hundred miles away, Lord alone knew!). “Although his promised ten thousand seems rather closer to one thousand. Mainly because it is.”</p><p>Jamie sighed.</p><p>“Even with most professional soldiers and fighting men out of the country, Argyll will have more than enough men at his command to deal with them”, he said dismissively. “And they have landed in Kintyre, rather too close to his own lands for comfort. It is a distraction and nothing more.”</p>
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p>MDCXLIV</p>
</div><p>
  <b>September 1644</b>
  <br/>
  <b>Stalwarton, Oxfordshire, ENGLAND</b>
</p><p>The news just two days later was worrisome, but it too did not seem that serious.</p><p>“One has to admire my half-uncle”, Jamie said. “I would wager that the king would pay a ransom to know that Scotland is facing a second invasion from a combined army of three men, even if one of them is the Great Montrose.”</p><p>Stephen chuckled at that.</p><p>“I suppose that he has heard of the Irishmen coming and is hoping to join up with them”, he said. “That must explain his small party; a larger one would surely be detected even if he will be largely passing through territory where the Covenant is not as popular as it is elsewhere.”</p><p>“They only have themselves to blame for that”, Jamie said firmly. “Argyll and his crew have done nothing to win hearts and minds in the more Royalist areas like Moray and the south-west. They think that as they are both so distant from Edinburgh and incapable of raising large armies against them, they can be safely ignored.”</p><p>“Unless Montrose somehow flies over all their heads and joins those thousand Irishmen!” Stephen laughed.</p>
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p>MDCXLIV</p>
</div><p>
  <b>September 1644</b>
  <br/>
  <b>Stalwarton, Oxfordshire, ENGLAND</b>
</p><p>A few days later found Stephen staring incredulously at his next letter. Which was impressive considering that a short distance away he had Jamie in a kilt, warming his buttocks by the fire after they had been caught in a late summer squall.</p><p>“The king?” Jamie asked. </p><p>Stephen shook his head.</p><p>“Montrose”, he said quietly. “He has not only managed to join up with those Irishmen, but despite being outnumbered two to one they have somehow defeated the government forces at a place called Tibbermore², just outside the town of Perth.”</p><p>“Which must have surrendered, given its lack of defences”, Jamie guessed. </p><p>Stephen nodded.</p><p>“Two days of looting then Montrose drew off, either to recruit more men if he can get the Highland clans to support him or perhaps to sniff around Dundee and Aberdeen”, he said. “That will give the king a further morale boost as he marches on London.”</p><p>“And Manchester?” Jamie asked. “He has to come south, surely?”</p><p>“Still dithering, and driving poor Cromwell around the bend”, Stephen sighed. “The earl fell out with Freeborn John the other day – not a difficult thing to do given that the fellow is more prickly than the average urchin³, but still not a good time – when Lilburne wanted to take Welbeck Abbey for us. Manchester refused but he took it anyway; the earl publicly berated him and then started taking the credit, which as you can imagine did not go down well.”</p><p>“Like Essex, he still thinks that we can deal with this excuse for a monarch”, Jamie said. “The correct word for such a belief is 'delusional!”</p>
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p>MDCXLIV</p>
</div><p>
  <b>September 1644</b>
  <br/>
  <b>Stalwarton, Oxfordshire, ENGLAND</b>
</p><p>“Montgomery”, Stephen muttered as he looked at his map. “Slap bang in the middle.”</p><p>Two strong arms wrapped themselves around him and he leaned back into their embrace, sighing happily.</p><p>“Do not tell me that even Prince Rupert has gotten that far in such a short time”, Jamie said, nuzzling the back of his lover's neck. </p><p>Stephen shook his head.</p><p>“No, but it was a detachment of his men who have been beaten”, he said. “The town sits on one of the few roads into the Welsh March and I know that Rupert was anxious to retain it. Unluckily for him we first took and then held it against a counter-attack. He is reportedly more depressed over it than he was over the loss of York.”</p><p>“Perhaps with some justification”, Jamie said. “York might be a mighty city and Montgomery a small town, but after Marston Moor the king needs those Welsh recruiting grounds even more than before. They are hardly any good to him if we can intercept men being sent to Shrewsbury, which will be further isolated after this.”</p><p>“What about Montrose, though?” Stephen asked. “He has sacked Aberdeen, which will hardly make him popular up there.”</p><p>“They deserved it after shooting at his herald and killing a drummer-boy”, Jamie said firmly. “There are rules of war, and consequences if you take a single step outside of them. They knew that yet still did it. I have little sympathy, I am afraid.”</p><p>“Still, he cannot raise much of an army with just a few more clansmen”, Stephen said. “And with Waller's army reformed we shall likely have double the king's strength by the time he tries for the capital.”</p><p>“You mean, like the Covenanters had double Montrose's strength at Tibbermore?” Jamie asked wryly.</p><p>Stephen winced. Yes, there was that. But it was still no reason for some to smirk like.... what was he glancing skywards for?</p><p>Ah. It was one of those afternoons.</p>
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p>MDCXLIV</p>
</div><p>Indeed it was. Four times over for some lucky nobleman!</p>
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p>MDCXLIV</p>
</div><p>
  <i>Notes:</i>
  <br/>
  <i>1) Charles Louis had indeed been invited over by parliament.</i>
  <br/>
  <i>2) Now Tippamuir.</i>
  <br/>
  <i>3) Hedgehog.</i>
</p>
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p>MDCXLIV</p>
</div>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0012"><h2>12. Two Hundred Couple And Ninety-Nine</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>A second battle fought at Newbury is again a draw but parliament fails to win with twice the numbers. Their commanders then fail to stop the king from slipping away, then fail again to stop him returning to collect his guns. Jamie admits to one fellow who he would cheerfully stab, and four hundred black rabbits do not make a black horse.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <b>September 1644</b>
  <br/>
  <b>Stalwarton, Oxfordshire, ENGLAND</b>
</p><p>Stephen groaned when he read his latest letter.</p><p>“I have not heard that sort of noise since I did that thing with the harness <i>and</i> the handcuffs!” Jamie teased. “My half-uncle again?”</p><p>The nobleman shook his head.</p><p>“An advance party of the king's men have destroyed our camp at Basingstoke, and broken the latest siege of Basing House”, he said. “It might not have been much of a gain but it would have been a morale boost what with all the bad news lately. Instead the king himself will soon he approaching London.”</p><p>“At least we managed to get Manchester and Waller ready to stop him”, Jamie said.</p><p>“With the leadership that our leaders have been showing lately, I would not put it past them to blow the thing despite their greater numbers”, Stephen groused. “They are currently at Reading while Manchester continues to grumble about everything.”</p><p>“That is the way armies have always been”, Jamie said. “Men might accept a lout like me leading a small band of them, but they only respect a titled man as their overall commander. His competence or lack thereof, that is another matter.”</p><p>“We need more men like Cromwell to lead our armies”, Stephen said, “and if this lot blow this next battle then that is something more and more people will be saying. I know that the fellow is feared by many especially with his links to the Independents, but we need men who can end this war <i>now!”</i></p><p>“You mean before Montrose does something else serious in Scotland?” Jamie asked.</p><p>Stephen shook his head.</p><p>“There are increasing reports of these clubmen”, he said, “local men who have tired of their counties being stripped bare every time an army passes through and grabs anything that is not nailed down. I doubt that Farmer Giles with his pitchfork will ever be much of a military threat, but it further disrupts the countryside which is the last thing we need.”</p><p>“Our own workers know how lucky they are not to number among those victims”, Jamie said, “especially given how close we are to Oxford. Although as the king draws nearer to defeat, that risk will I am afraid increase.”</p><p>“Why do you say that?” Stephen asked.</p><p>“I have seen wars from start to finish”, his lover said, “and the end-game is often the most dangerous phase. The losing side feels that they have little left to lose and can commit acts that they would otherwise not dare venture, particularly against those least able to defend themselves. The winning side feels that they have it in the bag and can get away with what they see as minor infractions, also against those least able to defend themselves. I think that we would be wise to take precautions.”</p><p>“Such as?” Stephen asked.</p><p>“Training some of our men up in the use of guns”, Jamie said. “And pay them extra on condition that they are ready to come and defend the estate if the worst happens.”</p><p>To Stephen, that 'if' sounded worryingly like 'when'.</p>
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p>MDCXLIV</p>
</div><p>
  <b>October 1644</b>
  <br/>
  <b>Stalwarton, Oxfordshire, ENGLAND</b>
</p><p>Stephen's lover was, apart from the times when he was shredding his nobleman's insides, one of the gentlest men alive and a hard man to get on the wrong side of (although the bastard would of course have quipped that he was a hard man in many areas, the dog!). So when the nobleman passed him his latest letter and saw his face darken, he wondered why.</p><p>“Someone you know?” he asked.</p><p>“Sir John Urry¹”, Jamie said sourly. “One of the few men that I would willingly kill away from the battlefield, if only to improve the stock of Mankind!"</p><p>“Why?” Stephen asked. He knew it had to be serious as his lover was usually punctilious about the rules of war.</p><p>“He is a Moray man, about our age, and it was his changing sides that cost the life of Hampden last year”, Jamie sneered. “A total chancer; he puts himself before all, that man. I suppose that it is good news that he has defected – again! – and brought news that the king's forces are split, but the only way they should ever trust him with a gun is after putting him in the front line where the enemy can shoot him dead!”</p><p>“It confirms what we suspected about the king, though”, Stephen said. “His nephew, the one man that might still save him, races around Gloucestershire to try to round up more men while the king, who had promised to wait for him, marches on anyway. And then sends even more of his men off in an effort to save Banbury!”</p><p>“Like his political options, Charles Stuart thinks that he can do everything at once and that the Good Lord will provide”, Jamie said. “I wonder how many of his men will have to die to prove him wrong this time?”</p><p>“Too many”, Stephen sighed.</p>
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p>MDCXLIV</p>
</div><p>
  <b>October 1644</b>
  <br/>
  <b>Oxford, Oxfordshire, ENGLAND</b>
</p><p>Neither Stephen nor Jamie really liked shopping, but a new tailor had recently opened on the road that led north out of the city towards Stalwarton and his clothes were excellent. Also a visit to him was also called for as the city had recently suffered a major fire² which meant that any business was doubly welcome.</p><p>The two men were talking to the shop-owner when the news arrived in the form of the fellow's breathless son, who had been in the nearby market-place when a herald from the king's army had ridden in. Bringing news of another inconclusive battle.</p><p>“It was close, though”, the young man said, recovering his breath. “He said that they had the king outnumbered by more than two to one but he held a strong defensive position, around the north side of the town and backed by the castle at Donnington which is held for him. So the Earl of Manchester decided to split his forces and attack from both sides.”</p><p>Jamie frowned.</p><p>“I looked round the town after last year”, he said, “and I am sure that they could not get round without being spotted. Especially from the castle, which is on a hill with excellent views for miles around.”</p><p>“The earl sent William the Conqueror on a thirteen-mile march overnight”, the young man explained. “But somehow the king's men got wind of it and were ready for them when they attacked. Also Manchester send his own men in before they got there and they were beaten off, so the king was able to make shift and to save himself.”</p><p>“But at least they have him trapped there?” Stephen asked. </p><p>The young man shook his head.</p><p>“The king slipped through the gap between the two armies”, he said sourly. “Not even a pursuit the man said, although I would wager a penny to a pound that my Lord Cromwell would have been champing at the bit.”</p><p>“Our so-called betters blow it again!” the tailor sighed. “Makes you wonder if they actually want this war to end, it does!”</p><p>That, Stephen thought, was a thought that was on the minds of rather a lot of people just now.</p>
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p>MDCXLIV</p>
</div><p>
  <b>November 1644</b>
  <br/>
  <b>Stalwarton, Oxfordshire, ENGLAND</b>
</p><p>“You mean that your fellow countrymen did not fall for it?” Stephen asked, raising his hand to his forehead in mock horror. “What <i>is</i> the world coming to?”</p><p>Jamie chuckled at his histrionics.</p><p>“Yes, you would have thought lack of pay and accommodation would have been put to one side now that parliament is pushing through an attainder against the archbishop”, he said. “I particularly liked his lawyer's argument that 'he was unaware that two hundred couple of black rabbits could suddenly make a black horse'. Like Stafford that sums up the weakness of the case against him, which is why parliament has resorted to this again.”</p><p>“Now that your countrymen have finally taken Newcastle, it will avail them little I fear”, Stephen said. “But at least that means they can send some regiments back to help against Montrose. Although the Committee of Both Kingdoms wants them to help secure Carlisle as well.”</p><p>“Rule by committee”, Jamie sighed. “That was one of the worst things about the battlefield, when you got generals who talked all day and did nothing. No wonder that we took the French word for talking-shop and used it to make parliament!”</p><p>“You make us all sound like a bunch of windbags”, Stephen smiled. “Some of us are decent men, you know.”</p><p>Jamie just gave him a look. Stephen shuddered.</p><p>“Oh believe me, Ste”, the soldier growled, “I know that you are <i>very</i> decent!”</p><p>One of these days he was going to give the nobleman a heart-attack, Stephen thought as he scrambled for the stairs, talking like that without warning. Either through that or through the sex!</p>
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p>MDCXLIV</p>
</div><p>
  <b>November 1644</b>
  <br/>
  <b>Stalwarton, Oxfordshire, ENGLAND</b>
</p><p>“That does it!” Stephen exclaimed. “He will have to go!”</p><p>“Who?” Jamie yawned, ruffling his lover's hair as the nobleman lay with his head on the soldier's lap, reading his latest letter.</p><p>“Who else?” Stephen grumbled. “Manchester! The king went back to Newbury to get his guns out of Donnington Castle where he had stored them after the battle, yet Manchester refused to take him on. And you will never guess what he said!”</p><p>“Always fuck your liege lord lover so hard that he cannot sit down?”</p><p>Stephen glared up at the pest. He really could start paying attention and stop playing with the nobleman's hair, no matter how good it felt.</p><p>“'If we beat the king ninety and nine times yet he is king still, and so will his posterity be after him'”, he said. “'But if the king beats us but once, or the last time, then we shall all be hanged and our posterity made slaves.'”</p><p>“Did they succeed in scraping Cromwell off the ceiling?” Jamie inquired.</p><p>“My in-law asked why they had bothered to take up arms in the first place, since this was against fighting hereafter”, Stephen said. “There will be one hell of a to-do at Westminster when they do get back; the supporters of both are determined to have the other removed. And Vane does not want to sack Manchester because that would cause a breach with the Lords, few of them that there are left.”</p><p>“Then he will need the judgement of Solomon”, Jamie smiled, “because no army is big enough to house both those gentlemen's egos.”</p>
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p>MDCXLIV</p>
</div><p>
  <i>Notes:</i>
  <br/>
  <i>1) Sir John Urry (or Hurry), born some time in the first decade of the century. Hie would defect again in 1647, but soon after would meet a Bad (if deserved) End.</i>
  <br/>
  <i>2) Likely caused by poor safety practices employed by the soldiers, some of whom apparently did not understand that gunpowder was more than a wee bit dangerous if not properly stored. The Great Fire of London of 1666 was not untypical; fires in mostly wooden cities were a common hazard at this time and Oxford would suffer another devastating one in 1671.</i>
</p>
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p>MDCXLIV</p>
</div>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0013"><h2>13. Quid Pro Quo</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>The threat from the Marquis of Montrose up in Scotland suddenly becomes much greater when he strikes into the heartland of his greatest rival. Parliament comes up with a clever idea to get rid of their useless army leaders, but then gets annoyed when London ignores their laws against Christmas on the grounds that they are just stupid. And Edward Stark is taken for a walk down by the river by his future wife.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <b>December 1644</b>
  <br/>
  <b>Stalwarton, Oxfordshire, ENGLAND</b>
</p><p>“Trust those Continentals to make a mess into a bigger mess!” Jamie scoffed. “The Danes will win themselves few friends, especially with the Swedes having succeeded where they so dismally failed.”</p><p>“Another Swedish success?” Stephen asked. “Against the Emperor or the Danes?”</p><p>“The Emperor, at a place called Jüterbog”, Jamie said. “Irony of ironies, that means they are now threatening Bohemia where the whole German mess started nearly thirty years ago. There has to be peace soon, surely, or there will be nothing left for anyone to rule over.”</p><p>Stephen hesitated before saying what he had to say next.</p><p>“Did you speak to Luke the other day?” he asked.</p><p>Even though there was no visible reaction, he knew at once that his lover was on his guard.</p><p>“Yes”, he said. “And yes, I advised him to apologize to Rufus. It was not his fault that one of the smith's horses broke loose near Anne.”</p><p>Stephen nodded.</p><p>“You did not..... you know?” he said.</p><p>“No, I did not.... you know”, Jamie said, quite deliberately misunderstanding his lover who glared at him.</p><p>“Bucky!”</p><p>“I may however have suggested that I had a whole raft of suggestions to pass on to Anne once she is safely delivered of your grandchild”, he said. “Luke should have been grateful. I could have made his life much more interesting.”</p><p>“And probably quite a bit shorter!” Stephen quipped.</p><p>Jamie looked at him and smiled slowly. The nobleman gulped. There may or may not have been a high-pitched and terrified whine from someone who was not of a military persuasion.</p>
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p>MDCXLIV</p>
</div><p>Apparently it was one of those afternoons. Again!</p>
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p>MDCXLIV</p>
</div><p>
  <b>December 1644</b>
  <br/>
  <b>Stalwarton, Oxfordshire, ENGLAND</b>
</p><p>Stephen knew that it took a lot to unsettle his soldier lover, so when he related the latest news to him and saw his eyebrows shoot up, he immediately worried.</p><p>“Inveraray?” Jamie asked. “Is Diana sure?”</p><p>Stephen just looked at him.</p><p>“I know, daft question”, the soldier admitted. “But that is Argyll's capital and his main castle. How on earth did even Montrose manage that?”</p><p>“Argyll and some fellow called Baillie¹ were trying to make a pincer move on him”, Stephen said, “but he and his men moved too fast, attacking the place when most of the men defending it had been taken to hunt him down. Argyll himself was there but he escaped by boat; to be fair he was suffering with a dislocated shoulder so was hardly able to fight.”</p><p>“That would be Bill Baillie”, Jamie said. “A sound enough fellow but unimaginative, and damn difficult to get along with for anyone less than a saint. Also like Essex, far too cautious especially when up against someone as nimble as Montrose. If this goes on for much longer, enough of the Highland clans may join the king's cause to make my half-uncle a real danger.”</p><p>“It always sounds odd you calling him that”, Stephen smiled, “especially as he is four years younger than you.”</p><p>Jamie quirked an eyebrow at his lover.</p><p>“Hmm”, he said, smiling in away that made the nobleman shudder. “Maybe I need to prove that my generation still has it in me. Upstairs, my liege!”</p><p>Stephen shuddered again, but obeyed. His life, like something else that he was about to experience, was so hard!</p>
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p>MDCXLIV</p>
</div><p>
  <b>December 1644</b>
  <br/>
  <b>Stalwarton, Oxfordshire, ENGLAND</b>
</p><p>Christmas was only a few days away which, Stephen suspected, explained why young Edward Stark had taken to praying in his room of late. Because they would be joined for the day itself by Baldur and his family – including the fearsome Thunor who, her father said, was already thinking of wedding-dresses! It really was terrible how some males let themselves be so whipped by those they were destined for and that had better not be another bloody smirk from someone or..... a certain nobleman would not be happy!</p><p>Before then however they had an unexpected visitor from London, Stephen's cousin Vale.</p><p>“Diana has some news for you”, the lawyer said, sitting himself down in their study.</p><p>Stephen had not thought there anything unusual about that statement, but for some reason Jamie stared sharply at their visitor and narrowed his eyes at him. The lawyer blushed.</p><p>“She is very attractive”, he admitted, “and I was surprised if not shocked when I found out she was not married. She said that she had always wanted a lawyer to hand so..... you know.”</p><p>“No”, Jamie said innocently. “What?”</p><p>Stephen swatted at the pest.</p><p>“You like her?” he asked gently.</p><p>“Yes”, his cousin admitted. “Unfortunately the head of my chambers, a rough fellow called Graves, wants me to marry his teenage daughter who, as they say, one would not have needed to be a lawyer to work out if she had eaten all of the pies! And he has the potential to ruin me if I refuse.”</p><p>“You do not like the daughter, presumably?” Jamie smiled.</p><p>“Diana told me that the girl is enamoured of a sailor down the docks”, Vale said, “and I have hopes that an elopement might be effected. Preferably with a slow boat taking her and her lover to Cathay! That would leave us free to marry, if Diana would have me.”</p><p>Stephen thought that that was hardly in doubt. His cousin certainly did not look his twenty-nine years, being handsome and charming as well as clever. Not that Stephen was jealous of someone a mere seven years his junior.</p><p>“Why did you come in person?” he asked, glaring at some bastard of a soldier who was smirking for no good reason. “Was it something that Diana could not trust to a letter?”</p><p>“It was”, the lawyer said. “Parliament is considering a new piece of legislation called the Self-Denying Ordinance. If it passes the Lords then it will require every commander in change of anything larger than a regiment to quit his post.”</p><p>Stephen frowned.</p><p>“I can see how that would get rid of Essex and Manchester”, he said, “but would it also not force Cromwell to resign?”</p><p>“That is the genius of the thing”, his cousin said, “and why Diana could not entrust it to a letter. Vane came up with the idea; offer the Lords that in return for removing incompetent generals like Essex and Manchester, they would also see the back of Cromwell whom as we all know they loathe.”</p><p>Both men looked at him expectantly.</p><p>“But?” Stephen pressed.</p><p>“The Lords will hopefully overlook one small but critical thing”, Vale said. “Members of the Commons have the ability to resign their seats at any time, while their equivalents in the Lords cannot. The downside of a life tenure is that it is indeed a life tenure, with no 'outs', and even if Cromwell did stop being a member they could hardly move against him while he is still running part of their army. Diana thinks that the Lords will not like it anyway – they have not been around for as long as they have without being able to sense when something looks too good to be true – but that they will be pressured into passing it sooner or later. Whatever happens the Commons will be able to keep Cromwell in his post.”</p><p>“They would not make him leader of the army though, surely?” Jamie asked. “The Lords would never accept that!”</p><p>“The rumour is that they are eyeing Tom Fairfax for that hornet's nest of a post”, Vale said. “A sound rather than a brilliant man, but very popular with the   men he commands and not a naysayer like Essex or Manchester, although in some ways as cautious as the former. They are also reforming the army into a new model, making it better paid and trained.”</p><p>“You mean the Cromwell model”, Jamie grinned.</p><p>“I would not say that anywhere around Westminster”, Vale grinned back, “or at least not unless I wanted several noble lords to keel over from shock!”</p>
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p>MDCXLIV</p>
</div><p>
  <b>December 1644</b>
  <br/>
  <b>Stalwarton, Oxfordshire, ENGLAND</b>
</p><p>There was one more news item from London before the end of the year, and Stephen rolled his eyes when he read it.</p><p>“You were right about approaching victory making men act idiotically”, he told Jamie. “Parliament decided that since the Lord's Day coincided with one of the days put aside for fasting, they would instruct the people of London to obey the latter rather than the former.”</p><p>Jamie looked expectantly at him. Stephen chuckled.</p><p>“The people of London decided to obey the former rather than the latter!” he said. “I like Cromwell, but some of his supporters really should have thought twice before taking on Christmas. For the poor of this land of whom there are far too many, it is one of the few bright spots in their existence.”</p><p>“Talking of bright spots, where is Eddie?” Jamie asked. “I have not seen him all day.”</p><p>Stephen smiled.</p><p>“Thunor took him down to the river for a walk”, he said. “And likely to discuss her latest wedding plans. The poor boy looked like a condemned man when she marched him off.”</p><p>“Never mind”, Jamie said. “Our visitors will be off tomorrow – then it is you who will be the condemned man, my liege!”</p><p>Stephen gulped.</p>
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p>MDCXLIV</p>
</div><p>
  <b>December 1644</b>
  <br/>
  <b>Stalwarton, Oxfordshire, ENGLAND</b>
</p><p>The feast of Stephen was aptly named that year, as what was left of the nobleman had to stay in bed all day after his lover's attentions.</p><p>Meh, there were worse fates!</p>
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p>MDCXLIV</p>
</div><p>
  <i>Notes:</i>
  <br/>
  <i>1) William Baillie (b. 1593). One of the many Scottish captains who had served overseas and was therefore very experienced – just not as experienced as his quarry.</i>
</p>
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p>MDCXLIV</p>
</div>
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